Something New
by Oblivion's Tragedy
Summary: I go to a new school. The school I've always dreamed of going to. I quit the job I hated with a passion and start fresh at Balamb Garden. I get new friends, new enemies, and maybe something more SquallOC No Squinoa XP
1. Bring It On Galbadia!

"Ainsley! Get your ass down here and clean the dishes!" I heard a shrill cry from downstairs. I paused in my dusting up in the master bedroom and sighed. I just did the dishes this morning! "Ainsley!"

"Fine! I'm coming to do the damn dishes! Even though I did them already…" I grumbled the last part and threw my duster on the ground watching the dust fly around as it hit the carpet. That aught to piss off mother dearest of the house.

Welcome to my life of the past three years. Glamorous, isn't it? Hah! Only if you want to practically be a slave to some rich prissy wife of a billionaire. I was the maid, or so my contract said. In my opinion I was more the young woman that the snooty rich bastard got to order around and tell me to do things that my job didn't even require. Get the groceries, paint my nails, drive me to the mall, yada yada yada! I'm paid to clean the damn place, not cater to your every word. I clean and go home! That's it. Nothing else.

When I reached the bottom of the stairs I found Mistress Dahlia already there with her hands on her hips and her head tilted up and looking down her long nose at me. She was a skinny woman, literally almost skin and bones, and stringy mousy brown hair tied in a bun. Her nails were manicured and her fingers were adorned with rings, her wrists in bracelets and her neck in necklaces. On her ears hung heavy looking earrings that stretched her ear lobes dangerously and I swore I just got sympathy pains from just looking at the woman.

"What took you so long, girl? Get to the kitchen now," she demanded and I bit my tongue so I wouldn't snap back at her and instead plastered on a fake smile that didn't reach my eyes and nodded to her.

"Yes, ma'am," I said quietly and inwardly winced at my politeness. I hated being so nice around her, especially when it was fake. You're probably wondering why I don't just quit and ditch. It's simple really. My parents got me the job and they said that if I lost it, in other words fired or quit, they wouldn't send me to the school I'd been wanting to go to for so long. Balamb Garden. The prestigious school for those who wanted to become a SeeD. My parents didn't really approve of my career choice, but thought it would be better than me sitting around the house and scaring the neighbours.

Don't ask...

When I entered the kitchen I almost screamed in frustration. Almost every kitchen item was covered in all kinds of food. Dishes, bowls and cutlery lay scattered all over the counters covered in different colors and textures of food. Some of the other maids were already at work cleaning the mess and had hardly made a dent.

"What the hell happened?" I asked the closest one to me as I started cleaning also. The woman sighed and turned to me, wiping her hands off on her apron.

"It seems the Mistress had another large get together with her friends for lunch," the woman said disdainfully as she looked at all the dirty dishes. I sighed and we continued working until all the mess had been cleaned. By then my shift was over and I headed home. As soon as I entered my room I didn't even bother to change and flopped down on my bed. I pulled the covers over me and almost instantly fell asleep.

The next morning I awoke to someone shaking my shoulder and I groaned while rolling over. I didn't have to work today and I wanted to sleep in.

"Ainsley, sweety, wake up," a soft voice said near my ear and I buried my head under my pillow.

"I dun wanna," I mumbled and I heard my mother laugh.

"Come on, Hunny, you have to get up. Your father and I have some good news for you." I heard her chuckle.

"Couldn't it wait 'till, like," I glanced at my clock on my bedside table and groaned again when I saw it was eight in the morning. "Eleven, or something?" I finished. My parents got up way too damn early.

My mother laughed again. "No. Trust me; you'll want to get up for this."

I sighed knowing she wouldn't leave me alone until I got up. She might even start singing the moogle song. I shivered at the thought. "Fine, I'm up," I groaned as I lifted myself and sat up to show my point. My mother giggled and clapped her hands like a little girl and I raised an eyebrow at her behaviour. It's too early to be excited for anything.

"Excellent! Get dressed and come downstairs to the living room." With that she left my room and closed my door. I sighed again and sleepily walk around my room to get ready grumbling the whole time about early riser parents.

When I was ready and stumbled down the stairs and passed through the living room. My father saw me and started to speak. "Hunny, we-" He never got to finish what he was say because I held up a hand to stop him and trudged into the kitchen. Going straight for the coffee pot I poured myself a cup and chugged it down since it had a little time to cool, then made my way into the living room again slightly more awake and sat down on the couch.

My mother and father looked at each other after a moment of silence then my father opened his mouth. "Sweety, your mother and I have come to a very important decision. You know that this year has been a good year for us with your mother's career taking a nice start and my job going steady. We've raised a nice amount of money and have decided it's time we send you to Balamb," he said and my mother giggled excitedly. I stared at them in shock with my mouth hanging open like an idiot. I was definitely awake now, but I had a hard time believing what I heard was real.

"S-say that again?" I asked dazedly.

"You're going to Balamb!" my mother exclaimed with a big smile and I finally registered everything I'd been told. A large grin spread across my face and I jumped up hugging my parents.

"Thank you!" I said happily and they laughed.

"We've saved enough money and we're having you transferred on Monday, we have your classes that you need to be a SeeD already set up with a dorm room is ready for you," my mom said as she hugged me again.

"I swear I've never loved you guys more!" I laughed and jumped up and down excitedly. Monday was in two days so I had to prepare. With that I gave my mom a kiss on the cheek and ran into the kitchen to grab a quick breakfast then run back to my room yelling thank you along the way. I had so much to do! I had to pack, I had to tell my friends, but most of all I had to call the Tujours and tell them I quit! Things were finally going my way!

The bus I was on stopped suddenly and I jumped from my stupor. I had been staring out the window at the city in awe and excitement. I'd been waiting for so long to go to this school and I was going to make the best of it. Maybe my grades will get higher…

Hah! Don't make me choke on my own spit.

As I got off the bus I saw people walking around. Lots of people. There wasn't this many people at my old school and this was only the _front _courtyard of the school. I felt a little insecure when I saw some people look at me but I kept walking with my head down. I pulled out a piece of paper that had a map of the school and made my way to the dorm rooms. I had my schedule and I had my first class tomorrow, but first to find my dorm room. When I entered the building I tried to find my way around, the map looked easy enough to follow, but I wasn't walking on paper and there were people around blocking my view and I think I was given an older version of the school. The map looked almost ancient, but it will have to do.

Eventually I got lost and I found myself down an empty hallway with no idea where the hell I was. I sighed in frustration and dropped my bags on the floor and slid down the wall to sit. I looked around me to look for any sign of where I was but there was nothing, it was just empty. I groaned and banged my head against the wall I sat against while rubbing my sore shoulder from carrying my bags all over the places. I must have looked like a complete idiot walking around with my stuffed bags, stumbling all over the place trying to follow a map. I just realized I didn't even know _how_ to read a map.

"Are you lost?" asked a rather high voice. cracked my eyes open to see a happy looking girl with short brown hair that flipped out at the ends and wore a bright yellow dress that went down her knees.

"Um, ya," I said embarrassedly. The girl giggled and held out a hand to help me up. I smiled gratefully and took it. She pulled me up and I lifted my bags back on my shoulder as I clutched my map.

"I take it you're new here," the girl said and shook my hand that she still held. "I'm Selphie Tilmitt."

"Ainsley Reylar," I replied with a smile. "I know this will sound stupid to someone who's been here a while, but can you point out to me the way to the dorms? I can't find my way around with this map." I slapped the piece of paper with the back of my hand as I scowled at it and Selphie laughed.

"Sure," she said and looked at my map. She laughed again when she did and I raised my eyebrow at her. I'm pretty sure she wasn't laughing at how wrinkled it was. "This map is from last year. We did a little remodelling a few months ago and a few things got moved around. We're over where the dorms _used_ to be. This leads to the training center. The dorms are this way, com on." She took one of my bags and I sighed in relief then she linked her arm through my free one.

"Thanks, I must look like a complete idiot," I laughed and so did Selphie.

"It's alright. I'm always glad to help a newbie," she said sweetly with a smile. I rolled my eyes.

"Gee, thanks. 'Cause that just makes me feel so much better," I said sarcastically and Selphie giggled again.

"Glad to make you feel welcomed," she said as she led me across a circular room with a large space in the middle for a statue and some plants. She down another hallway and turned down another. "Now, what room where you?"

"Um, 160," I said while looking down at my schedule and she nodded. She pulled me into an elevator and pressed a button to the third floor. She started telling me about her friends and what they were like. She seemed pretty fond of one called Irvine Kinneas who was a sharpshooter and apparently a ladies man, but the way she talked about him it sounded like she had a crush on him.

When we reached the third floor we got off the elevator and walked down the hallway to my dorm. When we reached it I pulled out the key card I got along with my things and slid it in the slot. I opened the door and jumped when I saw an older man standing near the window. The man turned around and smiled at me through his glasses.

"Good afternoon, Ms. Reylar. I'm the headmaster here, Cid Kramer. Welcome to Balamb," he said rather friendly. I glanced at Selphie who smiled and pulled that bag that she was carrying off her shoulder and set it on the floor.

"Um, thanks," I replied and the man nodded.

"I trust you have your schedule and are ready for your classes starting tomorrow?" he asked.

"Of course," I answered.

"Good. Now, I'll let you unpack and have a look around. I'm sure Selphie wont have a problem showing you a few things." The headmaster smiled and the girl behind me grinned.

"Definitely not," she said perkily and I laughed. With that the headmaster smiled and left. Selphie helped me unpack and as soon as she did she dragged me out the door and towards a place where she said her friends were. I tried to follow where she was going and tired to remember the places, but she moved so fast that I had a hard time even getting a glance at where we were. Eventually we reached a place that looked like a cafeteria. Hardly getting a look of the room at the moment that we were standing, she dragged me off to a table to the far right of the room and as abruptly that we started again we stopped and I almost fell over, but her grip on my arm stopped me from doing so.

"Guys, this is Ainsley Reylar. She's new," she introduced and shoved me down in a seat next to a blonde woman. She smiled kindly at me as the rest of the people at the table looked over at me.

"Um, hi," I said awkwardly and gave a little wave.

"Hey there," said a man from across from me with a wink. I had long brown hair in a ponytail with a cowboy hat and a long trench coat. I raised an eyebrow at him and the woman beside me leaned over the table and smacked him in the back of the head.

"Ow!" he exclaimed while rubbing the back of his head and scowling at her. The woman crossed her arms.

"Be nice. She's new and we don't want to scare her off," she said and the young man huffed. I smiled and laughed a little. Then the woman turned to me and smiled kindly. "I'm Quistis Trepe." She held her had out for me to shake and I took it, smiling at her then she continued to introduce everyone else at the table. "This is Zel, Squall, and Irvine," she continued while gesturing to each of them.

"Hi," said Zell with a bright smile and a excited wave.

"Hm," Squall mumbled with a nod.

"Hello again," Irvine said trying to sound seductive and grinned at me. I rolled my eyes and Selphie smacked the back of his head like Quistis as she sat beside him. He pouted and rubbed the back of his head again.

I think I'm going to like it here.


	2. You Gots Skillz!

"So what school did you come from, Ainsley?" asked Zell and he bit into a hot dog that he had in front of his.

"Lezmet U," I replied and was met with only blanc stares, with the exception of Squall who sat with his arms crossed and leaning against the table. His eyes were cast down and I started to wonder what about the dull grey metal was so interesting.

"Where the hell is that?" Zell was quite the talker. It looked like to me that he and Selphie were the major welcoming committee of the group.

"It's not surprising that you guys don't know about it," I laughed. "It's in the lower part of Esthar. It's not the most popular University as you could probably guess." Everyone nodded in understanding.

"Why didn't you just go to the school in Esthar? It's probably much better than coming here considering you're closer and all," suggested Selphie and I shook my head.

"I've been begging my parents to send me to this school for years and just this year we saved enough money to afford to get me here. Besides, the one in Esthar is _way_ too expensive, we're lucky we could afford to send me _here_." I replied and her mouth formed the shape of an 'O' and she nodded.

It was silent then as Zell and Selphie paused in interrogating me. I looked around the table after a few moments and saw that Irvine was throwing flirting glances at Selphie, who was blushing madly, Zell was stuffing his face with his hot dogs, Quistis was examining her nails and Squall was in the same position as before. He had medium length brown hair and an angular face. Nicely shaped and defined, but there was a scar across the bridge of his nose going from under his left eye and up to beside his right. His eyes were closed so I couldn't see the color they were. He wore a black jacket with a fur collar and around his neck was a necklace of a lion head made of silver. Everything else he wore was hidden either by his jacket or the table.

"So!" exclaimed Selphie all of a sudden, startling me out of my daze. Shut up, I know I was staring at him, but it's hard not to! "What does everyone want to do today? We've got the rest of the afternoon to ourselves." Everyone glanced at each other and when people looked at me I shrugged. They're supposed to be showing me around.

"What do you want to do, Ainsley?" asked Quistis and I blinked.

"Um, I don't know. Maybe you guys just do whatever and I'll just follow along I guess." I honestly had no idea what I wanted to do. They were all friends and would probably do something they usually did and I would just tag along for the time being.

"Suit yourself. Let's go to the training center," suggested Zell as he stood and threw away the paper plate he used to eat his food. Everyone else nodded in agreement and stood as well. Squall rose after everyone else, but no one paid that any mind and he followed. I quickly caught up with everyone and stayed clear of Squall because it seemed like he wasn't someone who wanted to be bothered. Instead I stayed close to Selphie who was being continually bothered my Irvine. I smiled at the obvious giddiness that the girl got when he did so.

I made sure this time that I paid attention to where we were going so I wouldn't forget. Entering the training center there were already a few people in there training, obviously, and the others immediately went to train themselves. I stood awkwardly near the entrance knowing I couldn't go in since I didn't have anything to train _with_ so I found a bench and sat down. What to do? What to do? No idea.

Boredom set in a few minutes later as I watched my new friends train with each other, others and dummies. I sighed and leaned my head against the wall behind me. Soon I'd be able to train too and kick some dummy ass! The thought made me smile. It wouldn't be too hard really, all I had to do was picture the dummy's head was Mistress Dahlia's.

Ah…. If dreams could come true…..

Someone tapped on my shoulder and I was startled out of my daydream to see Zell in front of me. He grinned childishly at me and I wondered what he was thinking.

"You bored?" he asked cocking his head to the side like a puppy.

"Kind of, ya," I replied and his smile widened.

"Great! Since you don't have a weapon yet I'll show you some of my amazing martial arts skills." He smiled smugly to himself and the next thing I knew he hauled me up from the bench and dragged me out onto the floor.

"Zell, you don't have to you know. I'll just wait until I have a weapon and my lessons start tomorrow," I insisted. I just met the guy and he already wanted to teach me how to fight!

"Don't worry about it! I'm a pro at this stuff." That didn't sound very reassuring. When we reached an area where we were near Selphie and Quistis fighting we stopped. I turned to the two young women who were smiling surprisingly at me. I gave them a lopsided smile back.

"He _is_ a professional martial artist, right?" I whispered to Selphie since she was the closest to me. She laughed.

"Ya, he is, but you would never guess it with his maturity level," she quietly giggled back then returned to her training.

"Ok, first of all make a fist," he ordered and I did so. "Good. Now, hit me."

My eyes widened slightly and I looked at him like he was crazy. "What? Already?" I asked unsure.

"Yes, already. Now, hit me. Come on," he ordered again while he gestured with his hands. I took a deep breath and raised my fist and swung at him. He caught my fist easily.

"Oh, come on! That was way too light! You weren't even trying," he accused then slapped the palm of his hand. "Hit me like you mean it."

"Do I have to?" I whined. I could handle hitting someone I didn't know or hated, but not someone I considered a friend.

"Just do it, come on." I groaned and raised my fists in front of me like I was boxing then threw a punch, this time it was much harder. I transferred my weight to my front foot as I punched and even though Zell still blocked my attack I felt like I made progress.

"Not bad!" he complimented and I smiled a little. "That was much better than your last one. Now let's work on some more attacks then we can move onto blocking." Zell seemed more excited about teaching me how to fight than me actually learning.

"Save it for another time, Zell. We're done training for today," I heard a voice I didn't recognize say and I turned to see Squall behind me with his arms crossed. His voice wasn't deep, but it wasn't light either. It sounded young, as he obviously was, but it was also matured. Oh, ya. He's past puberty alright.

"She threw one punch!" protested Zell as Squall turned to walk away with the others who were laughing. Squall, with his back still turned to us, held up two fingers.

"Two, actually," he corrected and I could almost hear a hint of smugness in his voice.

"But only one counted!" Zell whined again, but followed the others anyway. Then he turned to me with an apologetic look. "No, offence." I shrugged.

"Don't worry about it. I know my first one was crap," I said.

"Alright! Nice second punch though. High five for trying!" He sounded like a five-year-old! He held up his hand high above his head and grinned widely. I laughed.

"Ya!" I cheered and slapped his hand. Zell wrapped his arm leisurely around my shoulders in a friendly gesture.

"I think you and I will get along quite well," he said.

"I think so too," I grinned at him and wrapped my arm around his shoulder as well.

Everyone was laughing as we exited the training center, with the exception of Squall again, when everything suddenly went quiet and the group stopped almost causing me to run into Squall's back. I blinked confused when I felt Zell tense up and stare ahead of us.

"What is it?" I asked dumbly, not even bothering to look for myself. Zell nodded to in front of us and I did look. Standing before our small group was a smaller one. Four people, two boys and two girls.

One guy was tall, blonde, had a long white coat and also had a scar across his face like Squall's just the opposite way. He also stood in the front of the group and looked to be the leader.

The other was dark haired and heavily muscled. His face was scrunched in a way that made him look like he was constipated.

The girl beside him was short and had short sliver hair and an eye patch. Her arms were crossed and she looked like she hated the world. She probably did.

The other girl stood in the front of the group with the blonde guy and hung off his arm. She had dark black hair and a sweet face. She was thin and wore a blue dress that went down to her knees.

Everything was silent and I had no idea why. The blonde guy was staring at Squall with a smug smirk and Squall was turned away from me so I couldn't see his expression, but the way his body was tensed and his fists clenched at his sides he seemed kind of pissed off.

"Hey there Squall. Funny meeting you here," said the blonde and I swore Squall couldn't get any tenser, but he said nothing.

"Leave him alone, Seifer," growled Zell from beside me. He was glaring fiercely at the other blonde, who only smirked at us.

"I can't believe my eyes. Is that your girlfriend, chicken-wuss?" he said smugly looking at me and Zell and our arms wrapped around each other's shoulders.

"What did you call me?!" Zell exclaimed and suddenly let me go which caused me to stumble a little. Zell stepped forward but was stopped by Squalls outstretched hand.

"Don't," he ordered quietly and Zell obeyed though he looked like he wanted to kill this Seifer guy. Seifer laughed along with his group of followers as they walked past us and into the training center.

Zell let out a huff of frustration and stomped his foot like a child. "_Why_ couldn't I just give him a _tiny, tiny_ little bruise?" he whined at Squall.

"No," he replied sternly as he continued walking again.

"_Why?_" Zell continued. I saw the others roll their eyes but something else told me that they wanted the same thing. I blinked confused again, but followed the group, but this time I stayed close to Selphie.

"So, what was that all about?" I whispered to her quietly. I didn't want to worsen the already apparent bad mood of the guys so I kept it quiet to not cause a scene.

Selphie just shook her head, her expression serious and she leaned over closer to me to whisper an answer. "I'll explain later. It's complicated and something that shouldn't be mentioned around the guys. Especially Squall," she said and I nodded. She was right. Zell looked downright pissed off and Squall looked emo.

That's never a good sign. I had a feeling that something like this might occur more often in the future, I'm just hoping that it wont happen _that_ much. Hopefully Selphie could explain it all to me and I'd be able to either help or just stay out of the way.


	3. And So It Begins

Quistis and I laughed as Selphie made an odd face, retelling a story about Zell when he accidentally ate chocolate laxatives. Her face was scrunched up and looked incredibly disgusted before she lost her act and burst out in laughter. We had put off telling me about the reason Squall was so distant, or as the girls liked to say 'emo', and they instead wanted to tell me about stupid things the guys have done. As in Zell and Irvine, Squall apparently hasn't done anything that's too embarrassing.

"Ok, ok. I get that they're idiots. Now, get to the point of this little get together," I said after our laughter died. I didn't say it rudely, but I was worried I came across a little too snoopy. I was generally a curious person, always wanting to know what's going on around me and my friends. I wanted to know everything about the people close to me too because if there was anything wrong I wanted to help. It might have been early, considering I've only known him for a day, but I wanted to help Squall. I wanted to know what made him so distant and quiet.

"Right. Well, where do we start?" Quistis quietly questioned, turning her head slightly to the side to look at Selphie who only shrugged and continued picking at the dirt under her nails. The older woman sighed. "To put it shortly, Squall loved Rinoa and probably still does, but she doesn't love him. You see, they dated for a while, months actually, until Rinoa suddenly broke it off, saying she loved Seifer. Squall thought at first that Seifer had bribed her or threatened her, but when he saw them together he could see she was actually happy. That made him feel worse. Rinoa thought she loved Squall, but after time realized she still loved Seifer. Not wanting to lie to Squall anymore, she told him everything and broke up with him," she explained quietly. The laughter from a few minutes ago non-existent.

"Squall was heartbroken, he still is, and it's been four months," Selphie added. Silence ensued and I stared at the two girls at the other end of my bed. Well… that's interesting.

"Wow… He must have really loved her," I stated and the others nodded. No wonder Squall was so distant; his heart was broken and worst of all she chose his rival over him. That's got to sting.

"Well, anyways, we should leave you to get some rest. Big day tomorrow! Good luck!" Quistis said after glancing at my clock on my night stand. I took a look myself and read 11:42 pm. Hm, maybe I should go to bed early today to be all pumped and happy for classes tomorrow. Right…. And my name's Albert Einstein.

"Ok, 'night guys," I yawned, realizing how tired I was. I gave each girl a hug and they left my dorm saying their 'good lucks' and 'nighty nights'.

The next morning I awoke to the annoying buzzing of my alarm clock. I groaned and swore as I rolled over to shut the damn thing off. I sighed when the noise stopped and lay back against my pillows with my eyes closed. After a few seconds I opened my eyes to look around and blinked in confusion when I didn't recognize where I was. What the hell? I swore I fell asleep in my room last night… Did I get hammered and sleep with some random guy? My eyes widened at the thought and my head snapped side to side like crazy trying to see if there was a naked man next to me. I breathed a sigh of relief when I found none but still half expected one to randomly pop in my room in nothing but a towel after a hot shower, his chest glistening with water…..

I'll shut up now….

But then I remembered! I had my first classes to become a SeeD today! With an idiotic smile I jumped out of bed, getting caught in the sheets as I did so and falling to the floor. Not missing a beat, I untangled myself and ran to my bathroom to get ready, the smile still on my face. After everything was done, I got into my uniform and grabbed my school stuff before flying out the door, locking it as I went.

Lunch came quite slowly, I almost felt bored. After only three classes I was ready to collapse. First thing I did was get testing done to figure out what weapon I should use since I didn't know what one I wanted and then after that I had actual classes about the law. I almost fell asleep when one teacher that looked older than Santa Clause was explaining the importance of talking a jumper into not wasting their life away. I know it was important, just like science class, but his monotone voice and lack of enthusiasm for the subject left half of the class drowsy and yawning.

Entering the lunch room I spotted a table with all my new friends. They waved me over and I gladly joined them. They all greeted me with big smiles and enthusiastic 'hellos!', all except for Squall who just looked up briefly from his brooding and nodded to me. I quirked a smile at him and he went back to starring at the table.

"So, Lee, how is your first day of classes going?" Selphie asked cheerily from across from me. My response was a loud groan and a thud when my forehead connected with the table. She giggled. "Not as easy as you thought, huh."

"No," I mumbled into the grey plastic. "It wasn't necessarily hard, but long and boring, very boring."

"Who do you have for law?" asked Quistis.

"Dingleberry…" I mumbled again.

"Who?" Zell said sounding quite confused.

"Mr. Harlum," I clarified.

"That old thing? I thought he was supposed to retire last year?" Quistis inquired.

"Apparently not." I could almost hear Selphie shrug.

"Are you kidding me? He looks like he should have retired when Elvis kicked the bucket," I moaned and the others laughed. "Sh'not funneh…." I mumbled and they laughed more. I raised a hand just above the table and gave then all the finger causing them to laugh even _more_. Why is my pain always the main reason for people's joy? Oh ya, because it's me.

After a few minutes, everyone else was in their own conversations, except for me and Squall. I had my head still rested on the table and Squall was obviously not the social type. He sat only a few feet away from me whereas on the other side of me was the rest of the group chatting and enjoying each other's company. Finally, getting tired of the silence, I raised my head intent on joining the others conversation but stopped and thought about it. I turned my head to the other side instead to look at Squall. It wouldn't hurt to talk to him, right? I mean he might be quiet, muscular, slightly cold and extremely good looking, but it wouldn't kill me to actually talk to him properly. At that moment Squall looked up and his brown eyes met mine. My breath hitched, not because I was enraptured by his chocolaty eyes, but because he scared the hell out of me. His face was stone and expressionless.

"What?" he said quietly and I almost jumped. I shouldn't be scared of him, but he just looked like he was about to kill me.

"Um, sorry. I just, uh, nothing. Never mind," I replied and returned my head to the table. I still felt his eyes on me so I looked up to find he was.

"Was there something you wanted?" he asked again. I bit my lip and cast my eyes to the table. This was my chance wasn't it? I was going to talk to him, but about what?

"Um, nice weather out there, huh?" I almost smacked myself when I saw his left eyebrow rise slightly. Dear god, I'm an idiot.

"It's raining…" he stated blandly after glancing out the window not too far away from where we were sitting. I looked and saw it was indeed raining. I always loved the rain! When I was younger I always went outside and ran around in the rain and just stood there with my eyes closed. A smile broke out across my face and excitement bubbled up inside me. I didn't care if Squall thought I was crazy, a lot of people did already, but I friggin' loved the rain! "You… like rain I take it…." He said sounding a little confused.

"Of course! What's not to like?" It was a rhetorical question, but I was so excited, I didn't even establish that I went from completely scared shitless of him to talking to him about rain.

"It's… wet…" he said slowly like he was talking to a three year old. I rolled my eyes.

"Duh, it's _rain_. It's not like it's cotton balls falling from the sky." I caught sight of sight of the giant clock at the other end of the room that read it was almost time for my next class. I groaned and slammed my head back down on the table causing Squall to move to the side a little farther away from me probably thinking I was insane. Which probably wasn't too far from the truth. "I have class in fifteen minutes…" I clarified after raising my head again. The brunette nodded in understanding then turned his head away and went back to staring at the table. I sighed. Well, that got me no where. My first time actually _talking_ to him and it's about rain.

"Well, guys," I said while stretching my back and arms before starting to tie my long black hair in a messy ponytail. The others stopped their conversation and looked at me. "I think I'm going to get my stuff and head to class. See you later." I stood and waved and the others waved back, even Squall looked up and nodded slightly to me. I smiled before leaving and heading to my dorm to get my stuff then going to class a little early.

I wanted a seat in the back. I have this weird paranoia that I don't like people behind me. I know it was inevitable, but I always felt like there was someone staring at me and I didn't like it. My mom actually got worried about it when the counsellor from my old school called her and asked to have a meeting with me. She suggested I had insecurity issues when I told her about my paranoia, but I just shrugged. Sure, I didn't think I was overly attractive or horribly ugly, but there was always something in the back of my head telling me that there was someone behind me, laughing at me, either because of my looks or how people generally saw my attitude. It magnified a little when I came here, worried that people were talking about the 'new girl' and it made me a little uncomfortable. Maybe I did have insecurity issues, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't the reason for my paranoia, but I wasn't a psychiatrist or a doctor so who was I to tell?

Classes over and my long day coming to a close I stumbled back to my dorm to have a shower and eat something. I forgot to get anything for lunch so I was starving. Walking into my room I sighed and didn't even notice I didn't have to unlock it and threw my keys into a bowl on a table near the door.

"Hi!" I screamed when I heard and excited greeting from two feet in front of me. I sighed in relief when I saw Selphie and Quistis standing not too far away, inside my dorm.

"What the hell are you doing in here? Scratch that. _How_ the hell did you get in here?" I said through slightly ragged breaths. Selphie just giggled.

"The door was unlocked," she said. I blinked.

"No, it wasn't. I locked it before I went-" I stopped mid-sentence when I realized I hadn't. I groaned and flopped down on my bed. I must have forgotten to lock it on my way to class after lunch.

"So, are you busy? Any homework?" Quistis asked casually as she sat down next to me and crossed her legs.

I sat up. "Not much. Why?" I said with my eyebrow raised.

"We're having a girl's night!" Selphie exclaimed throwing her arms in the air and hopping up and down. I groaned again, I seemed to do that a lot here, and lay back down.

"Why? We had a girl's night last night," I moaned.

"Yes, but we didn't have food and sleep over stuff! Besides talking about Squall's love life was kind of a downer," she replied holding up a plastic bag with some pyjamas in it and a bucket of ice cream. I laughed. At least I'll get some good snacks this time. Yesterday Quistis brought crackers.

We tore into the ice cream after I had an actual nutritious snack. Quistis was a health nut and refused to let me have junk food before I had something healthy to eat. I rolled my eyes when she told me, but complied anyway. After I ate we sat on my floor with our bucket of ice cream and a few spoons then talked for a while. This time though we had no depressing topics of conversation, we told embarrassing or funny stories from when we were younger until now and I found myself laughing until we all went to bed at 11 pm so I would be able to get up for class in the morning.

The alarm was a rude awakening for me and apparently it was for the other two too because they groaned and covered their heads with their pillows. "Turn it off," moaned Selphie. I sighed and did as I was told before stumbling into the bathroom and getting ready for class. After putting on my uniform I walked back into my room to find Selphie and Quistis still passed out on my floor. I rolled my eyes and poked Selphie with my foot while putting my hair in a ponytail.

"Get up. I need you guys out before I go to class," I said laughing. They only groaned and rolled away from me.

"Just go. We'll lock it on our way out," Quistis mumbled. I stopped and thought for a moment. Well, I've only known them for two days, but I guess it couldn't hurt. They were SeeD and seemed pretty trust worthy so I guess I could trust them.

"Alright. Just don't steel anything while I'm gone," I joked. They laughed sleepily.

"Can't make any promises there, Doll," Selphie moaned into her pillow and I laughed.

"Okay. Well, I have to head out. See you guys at lunch." I waved as I went out my door and continued to classes. Joy, I wonder how dead I'll be when it comes to lunch. I guess I'll just find out.


	4. Dance? Oo

At lunch I shuffled into the cafeteria, again tired from my boring classes. Reaching our regular table I noticed that only Quistis, Selphie and Squall were there. I sat down next to Quistis which was right across from Squall who, for once, wasn't leaning against the table. He still had his arms crossed and his eyes still bore into the hard plastic table, but instead of leaning against the table he leaned back against his chair back.

"Hey!" Selphie greeted cheerfully. "How's class? Still boring?" She smiled and took another bite of her sandwich. I groaned.

"Yes," I sighed and the two girls laughed quietly. Squall didn't do anything. "So where are the other two?"

"Irvine and Zell? They're on a mission," Quistis replied.

I pulled my salad out of my messenger bag and nodded. "Oh, what's the mission?"

Selphie giggled. "Rescuing a cat from a tree." I paused, about to stab my fork into the leafy greens and looked at them.

"Seriously?" I asked when no one gave up on what I thought was a joke. Quistis nodded.

"Ya. Apparently Headmaster Cid's new little girl and the babysitter lost their cat up a tree. Poor little Sonya was bawling her eyes out and the babysitter couldn't get it down. So Cid sent Irvine and Zell, knowing Squall wouldn't do it. Selphie and I were busy," Quistis winked and grinned indicating that they really weren't busy, just not wanting to do it.

"Oh. So Cid sent two professionally trained SeeD instead of calling the police department or the fire department, or hey! How about get a ladder?" I laughed a little and so did the girls. I think I saw Squall twitch slightly too.

"Ya, well the babysitter called him in a panic. She's 17 and a new at it so she was freaking out about Sonya freaking out, and ya," Selphie clarified. I nodded and dug into my salad.

"Holy, chocobos! Shelph, we have to go. See you guys later!" Quistis suddenly sprang up from the table with Selphie and they ran out of the lunchroom calling hurried goodbyes. I raised and eyebrow at them waving as they went then turned back to Squall. He looked up only slightly to look at me and I smiled. For some reason it was easier to talk to him now than it was yesterday.

"Nice weather today, huh?"

I saw his lip twitch. "Why? Is it raining again?" he questioned and I laughed.

"No, actually it's bright and sunny. Thought you'd like it."

He chuckled. He actually chuckled. A form of a laugh. From him. Squall Leonhart. The man made of stone just made a form of a laugh.

Before I could comment on it I saw the small smile that was on his face, that came so suddenly, disappeared. I narrowed my eyes in concern when he tensed and looked back at the table.

"Squall, are you ok?" I asked concerned.

Before he even had a chance to answer, there was a voice behind me. "Ya, Squally, is something wrong?" I've only heard that voice once and I knew who it belonged to. "Wow, new girl, you really get around. First Chickenwuss and now the loner. Who's next?"

Squall tensed even more and I felt my anger rising. I plastered an overfriendly smile on my face and turned to face Seifer and his goons. Rinoa wasn't hanging off his arm. "Seifer! Oh, was a pleasant surprise," I said exaggerating fake happiness.

The blonde was smirking with his arms crossed over his chest and his goons stood behind him in the same pose. Seifer laughed leaning back like it was an effort then bent back over with his hands on his hips. "It _is_ a pleasure, isn't it? I bet you'll be screaming it later when you pleasure little Squally over there." He nodded his head at the man across from him me. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Squall's fists clench.

I smirked and stood facing Seifer. "You wish, Blondy. You just think that because your little right hand doesn't work hard enough for you. But I bet you'd make a maraca happy though," I said.

"Ainsley…" I heard Squall say warningly behind me, but I ignored him. Keeping my eyes on Seifer I saw his face turn red and contort in anger.

"Watch it, new girl, you'll pay for that," he growled pointing a finger at me warningly.

"Oh, no, I'm so scared," I said sarcastically. Then turned a little to pick up my salad then faced him again. I reached down and pulled his pants and boxers out a little making sure to not look at anything down there and poured the rest of it down his pants and holding his pants tightly so he wouldn't move away. After all of it was poured I threw the container on the table and snapped his pants back then patted his cheek. "Now, why don't you go and find some poor hungry dog and you'll finally get that blow job you've been dreaming of since you hit puberty. Ok? Ok. Buh-bye."

Seifer's face looked like it was going to explode, but he just turned around and stormed out of the cafeteria with his followers. I crossed my arms over my chest then turned around to sit. Squall was staring at me with wide surprised eyes and I just smiled and pulled out a granola bar from my bag.

"Why did you do that?" he asked quietly. I shrugged.

"Quistis and Selphie told me he was a jerk and that you hated his guts. I thought it was appropriate that he got what was coming to him," I replied.

"You're wrong. You shouldn't have done that. He's dangerous," he continued and I rolled my eyes.

"Don't worry, he's too much of a pansy to hit a girl."

Squall shook his head. "He's the head of the Disciplinary Committee."

I raised an eyebrow. "Meaning…?"

"He can make up some story to get you into trouble with Headmaster Cid or publicly humiliate you or worse. And judging from today, that seems to be very likely," he said.

"Oh well, I don't embarrass easily. Besides, if he drags you guys into it he's declaring war," I grinned with a shrug and laughed taking another bite of my granola bar. Squall just stared at me. I blinked. "What?"

"You don't care?" he asked slowly.

"Uh, no?" I replied confused.

"You're different. It's like nothing around you fazes you."

I laughed. "Well, I do try to look on the bright side of things. You know, light at the end of the tunnel and all that. From all the stuff I've heard about Seifer I'm surprised he hasn't gotten his ass kicked yet, but from the looks of that scar on his face it seems I'm not too far from the mark. I wonder who gave it to him." I tossed the last piece of granola bar in my mouth.

"I did," he said quietly.

"You did? Wow, nice. Anyway, I have to get to class, see ya later or something." I glanced at the clock on the wall before standing and waving goodbye to him and heading to class. Squall watching me as I went, sitting all alone at the table.

After classes I went straight to my dorm to drop off my things then went straight to the cafeteria. When I found no one that I knew there I went to the training room. Zell and Irvine were back and Zell was trying to teach the gunslinger how to fight.

"Come on, Man! You can't fight with your rifle all the time! Especially in close combat," Zell screamed. I'm guessing Irvine wasn't getting quite the hang of it.

"I can if I want to!" The cowboy yelled back childishly. Yup, he had no idea what he was doing. I rounded a corner and found them. Irvine on his back and Zell standing over him.

"If we were using guns, you could kick you're ass, but if you were forced into a closer combat, you would die! Didn't they teach you that at Esthar?" Zell, said smugly.

Irvine growled and jumped up glaring at the blonde. "Wow, way to exaggerate, Zell. He wouldn't die. Hopefully," I laughed walking up to them. The boys turned to me and instantly straightened up with charming smiles.

"Lee! Glad you came, even with your minimal training I bet you could beat him," Zell said with a bright smile and pointed a thumb in Irvine's direction who glared at him and crossed his arms.

I laughed. "Sorry, Zell, I don't want to rip down Irvine's ego more than you already have." Irvine turned his glare to me. "Just make sure you don't do it in front of Selphie, Irvine will put a bullet through your brain."

"Why would he do that?" Zell asked completely oblivious to the blush quickly rising on Irvine's cheeks.

"He likes her. What? Being his friend all this time and you never noticed? I've known you guys a few days and _I've_ noticed," I said smugly. Zell's mouth fell open and Irvine's blush grew brighter. Zell turned to Irvine.

"You like Selphie?! Why didn't you tell me?!" he exclaimed.

"Because you'd make a big deal out of it," Irvine grumbled then turned back to me and pointed a shaky finger at me. "And _you_ only noticed because you're a girl!" I laughed.

"You know, I actually believed your playboy act at first, but then I saw you flirting with Selphie, "I said.

"So?" he questioned. "I flirt with a lot of girls."

"Yes, but a playboy never hits on a friend unless there's a secret crush. And you only hit of me at first because you expected me to be another one of your followers and leave your friends alone." I shrugged after my explanation and crossed my arms with a smirk.

"Wow…" Zell said slowly. "Are you sure you're just not a mind reader? I would never be able to get all that after three days with the little time at lunch and after classes."

"That's because you're a guy. Now, do you know where the others are?"

"Squall's doing some paperwork and the girls are planning another dance," Irvine shivered and so did Zell. I raised an eyebrow, what was so bad about a dance.

"They'll make us dress up in our 'best tuxes' and all the girls dress up in their best 'evening gowns'. You'll be subject to their torture too, now that you're a friend of ours," Zell said. I shrugged. "You'll have to wear a dress."

My eye twitched and I shivered along with them. "A dress?" I asked.

"Ya," Irvine clarified. "I guess you don't like dressing up either?"

"I don't mind dressing up; I just don't like dressing up in a _dress._"

"Good luck telling Selphie that. She'll pick out a dress for you and do your make up and if you refuse, she'll probably drug you and drag you there," Zell said.

"We know because she did that to him once." Irvine pointed to Zell who shivered again. "Except for the make up and instead of the dress, a tux. Of course she had to get Squall to help her."

Zell grabbed my shoulders and shook them slightly. "Run while you still can. Make sure she doesn't find you!" Then he ran off out of the training area. I raised an eyebrow at Irvine.

"He's still traumatized," he explained.

"Ah." I nodded and we headed out of the training room to follow Zell, but at a slower pace.

"Listen; don't tell Selphie that I… you know…" he said slowly another blush coming to his cheeks.

"Ya ya, I won't tell her," I told him with a wave of my hand.

"Thanks."

"No problem." I shrugged and we exited out into the front steps of the school where we saw Zell run out of and found Selphie and Quistis huddled around him. He was screaming.

"No! I don't want to go! Not again! Please!" he yelled as we met up with them.

"Calm down! You're going or I'll make you go!" Selphie yelled back and Zell whimpered and slumped to the ground.

"Good boy," said Quistis as she looked up and me and Irvine. "Hey! You guys are coming to the dance right?"

I looked at Irvine unsure and he nodded to me. "Uh, of course!" I said.

"Wouldn't miss it!" Irvine agreed.

"Great! It's on Saturday. Oh! We have you get you a dress, Ainsley! Come on!" Selphie exclaimed and the two women grabbed my arms and dragged me off to garages. I looked back at the boys with a scared expression and they waved at me like I was heading off to my doom, which probably wasn't too far off from the mark.


	5. Let's Get This Party Started

"I hate you. I hate you both," I grumbled as I looked at myself in the mirror. Selphie and Quistis picked out a pink dress and forced me to try it on. Pink. My most detested color of all colors. It was a light flowery color with ruffles and white lace and ribbons. It actually wasn't that bad; for a Barbie doll. They had already chosen and paid for their dresses and were now waiting on me. They stood behind me but to my sides enough for me to glare at them through the mirror.

"Oh, don't be ridiculous!" Quistis waved her hand. "You look absolutely adorable. Like a little doll!" I glared at her more.

"Yeah, I bet every guy at the dance will be all over you," Selphie agreed wearing a grin that split ear to ear. I slowly turned around letting my gaze rest on them.

"No, they won't, because I'm not going if I have to wear this," I said pulling at the skirt with my thumb and index finger as if it were dangerous to touch. The other two girls rolled their eyes and pushed me back into the change room where they threw me another dress to try on. Sighing I pulled off the pink one and tossed it over the door, smirking when I her a muffled cry of surprise when it landed on one of them. That should teach them.

The next one they had me try was a midnight blue one with an off the shoulder sleeve and a loose fitting body. The skirt was too short as well – almost showing a certain body part I'd rather not have anyone see – and was _way_ too big. I immediately tossed that one back saying it was too big and they tossed me another one.

They had me try on at least five more dress and when I refused them all they were beginning to give up. I grinned when Selphie pouted saying that I couldn't go to the dance unless I had some sort of gown. I wouldn't mind that one bit, but nonetheless they kept trying diligently.

Finally they tossed one in that seemed nice enough on the outside. It was long with a slit up the side of the leg and tight with a corset-like bodice. There were no sleeves and it was black with a few silvery designs of roses on the bodice. Sighing I put it on and tied the strings at the front tightly to make sure it stayed on. Once it was secure I stepped out of the change room to let Selphie and Quistis could have a look. Boredly I leaned one arm against the frame of the door and rested my other hand on my hip. Both girls gasped and stared at me with wide eyes. Taking this the wrong way I moved to turn back into the change room and try another one.

"Ok, I get it. I look hideous," I said, but was interrupted in my escape when they grasped my arms and dragged me back to the mirror.

"No, Lee, look," Selphie ordered.

When I looked into the mirror I had to hold in a gasp of my own. I wasn't vain, but I had to admit it actually looked really good on me. The shining black of my hair matched the dress and caused my emerald eyes and red lips to stand out brightly as the only color about me considering my skin was so pale. I moved a hand up to poke my cheek to see if it was really me I was looking at and when I found it was my lips curved into a smile.

"Wow, Ainsley. You _have to_ get that dress," Quistis said with a smile of her own.

"How much is it?" I asked suddenly realizing that it could possibly be too expensive with the amount of money my parents gave me to get food and pay for rent. Selphie checked the tag and low whistle then showed it to me. I hissed through my teeth when I saw the cost. It _was_ too much; 2000 Gil. "2000 Gil? I can't afford that."

Suddenly the shopkeeper approached us with a gracious smile. "Actually, I could give it to you for half of that. That beautiful dress has been sitting in my shop for years with nobody even looking at it. I'd hate to see it go to waste. Besides it looks stunning on you," she said. I looked to the older woman with slightly graying hair who was smiling warmly at me. I smiled back.

"Really? Thank you so much," I exclaimed happily then returned to the change room to change back into my regular clothes. After I came out we headed to the counter to pay for the dress.

"Oh, I almost forgot. This goes with the dress. It must have fallen off when you pulled it off the hanger." The shopkeeper then held up a black choker with a silver heart at the center and handed it to me. I smiled and said thank you then placed it in the box with the dress and paid for it. Thanking her again we left the store in search for some matching shoes.

Reaching another store they found their shoes no problem. Selphie got a pair of yellow four inch stilettos to match her dress while Quistis got a pair of two inch blue stilettos to match hers. It was rather difficult – again – to find myself a pair that wouldn't cause me to topple over at the height, but we finally found a black pair of black two and a half inch stilettos with straps lacing criss-crosses up my calves to tie behind my knees. Quistis and Selphie told me I'd have to walk around my dorm a few times to get used to them before the dance so I don't fall over while dancing. Not that I'd be dancing anyway. I'm a wallflower and will hopefully remain a wallflower because that's the way I like it.

With our shopping all done we returned to Quistis' car to drive back to Balamb. Upon our return we were met with the guys who were just standing around outside waiting for us. Even Squall was with them standing in his usual position; weight resting on one leg and his arms crossed over his chest.

"Hey, guys!" Selphie greeted cheerily and ran towards them pulling me along with our shopping bags swinging. When we reached them she continued, "Sorry it took us so long. It took _forever_ to find a good dress and heals for Ainsley."

They guys only laughed, except for Squall who just remained silent. "Well, we have to go! See you guys tomorrow!" Quistis quipped and dragged me and Selphie to their dorm that they shared. We spent the rest of the night talking and gossiping; well, they did. I mostly just sat there and listened and practiced walking around in my heals. We stayed up late into the night, around 3 o'clock and slept in to about 11 am. We allowed ourselves 2 hours to get wake up, eat brunch and then just sat around until we had to go help set up the last touches to the hall that the dance was being held in. At about 4 pm we went back to the two girls' dorm to get ready for the dance. We had showers then fixed our hair to perfection.

Selphie kept her hair in the usual flip except she left out two strands at the sides of her face to curl while Quistis put hers up in low ponytail then set in a clip for it to flow like a fountain behind her head. Mine was set up so that half my hair was clipped at the back and curled, my bangs they left to swish over my one green eye.

Our make up was next. Selphie's was simple with light pink lipstick and yellow eye shadow and black eyeliner and Quistis' was also a light lipstick with blue eye shadow and black eyeliner. Mine was simple with no lipstick, only lip gloss, and my usual thick eyeliner only the two girls managed to get me to put on some silver eye shadow as well.

When we were finally dressed and ready to go the three of us made our way to the dance hall arms linked with me in the middle. Probably because they didn't want me tripping on my heals to make a fool of myself. By the time we actually got to the hall it was about 7:30pm; right when it was starting. Entering the hall we found a few people already there and sitting and talking at the tables scattered around the room and some were dancing to the music from the band. We found the guys easily enough considering they were easy to point out. What other group in Balamb would be seen wearing a cowboy hat, hopping up and down and brooding against the wall? None other than Irvine, Zell and Squall.

Approaching them I felt myself start to feel a little self-conscious. It felt like all the eyes in the room were on me and criticizing me so I lowered my head to star at my feet as we walked. The girls didn't notice because soon enough we reached the boys and exchanged 'hellos' and 'aren't you handsomes'. All of them were wearing crisp pressed black suits that fit them perfectly, but all were obviously not used to such attire.

Immediately Irvine stepped up to Selphie offering a red rose that matched the blush that spread across her cheeks. "May I have the honor of being your escort this evening, My Lady?" he asked gentlemanly and bowed slightly with a smug yet nervous smile. Selphie readily agreed and accepted the flower and his arm as he led her to the dance floor. Zell didn't hesitate and did the same for Quistis – without the same genuine flirtatiousness as Irvine – to which she accepted as well leaving just me and Squall. Nervously I rubbed the back of my neck and refused to look at him.

After a few moments I found a hand in front of me holding an identical rose to the other boys' and looked up to find Squall actually standing, not leaning or crossing his arms, actually standing straight and tall with confidence. His features were the same emotionless mask as always, but the fact he was actually doing this threw me off a little. Hesitantly I reached up and accepted the rose with a smile and nod and he offered his arm to me. No words were exchanged, they didn't need to be, but he led me towards the dance floor to the others and I felt my nervousness increase. I stopped him about half way there and he turned to me with an eyebrow slightly raised.

"Can we go sit down? I'm not much of a dancer," I said slightly shaky, but he readily agreed and led me to one of the tables at the very back of the hall where we continued to watch the rest of the dancers. As soon as I sat down I let out a relieved sigh.

"I take it you dislike being here as much as I do," he commented and I nodded.

"I'm a wallflower. I like talking to people, just not dancing with them," I replied and he nodded in understanding. So they sat there for a while, not talking or communicating at all until Selphie decided she had enough and approached them. I groaned inwardly she leaned to the side slightly to whisper to Squall across the table. "Uh oh. Be prepared. Here comes the devil in the yellow dress."

He didn't know what it was, whether it was her words or just the fact that _she_ said it, but it almost made him smile. Almost.


	6. I Hate You Selphie

As Selphie approached with Irvine's hand held tightly in hers I noticed her cheeks were rosy and it wasn't her make up. Irvine was also red in the face and it was obvious that the two had done a little smooching on the dance floor. I would have smirked and made a smart comment had Selphie not spoken before I got the chance.

"Ok, I've had it with you two. Get off you're butts and on that dance floor. Seriously, you two need to do something besides sulk in a corner," she chided with a huff. Out the corner of my eye I saw Squall give her a small glare, almost nonexistent, but I still caught it. Me? I didn't have the self control and glared at her outright.

"I'm not sulking!" I protested crossing my arms over my chest in defiance. "And neither is he. I just don't want to dance."

Selphie returned the glare. "And why not?"

"Because I _can't_ dance and, really, I don't feel like making a fool out of myself in front of the whole school," I said and Selphie only waved her hand dismissively.

"Oh, come on, Lee, we need to show you off to the whole school! What better way than at a dance?" I rolled my eyes. Did she _not_ just hear a single word I said?

"No, Selphie, I'm not doing it. I got dressed up, I came, and that's all I'm going to do," I said, my arms still firmly crossed over my chest. Selphie, knowing I won't give in easily pouted.

"Can't you at least do _one_ dance? Just _one_?" she tried one last time letting go of Irvine's hand to clasp both of hers in front of her pleadingly giving Squall and I the puppy dog eyes.

I rolled my eyes and looked to Squall to see what he thought, but he only shrugged. Seeing this Selphie pressed some more. "_Please._"

I groaned in annoyance and pinched the bridge of my nose as if I had a headache. I opened my mouth to protest again, but Squall spoke up before I could which clearly surprised all of us. "One dance," he said. I looked at him with wide eyes, but he refused to look at any of us. Whether out of embarrassment or not, I didn't care, he was actually agreeing to torture. Selphie let out a squeal of happiness and clapped her hands jovially while hopping up and down.

"Awesome! See you guys on the dance floor soon!" she quipped then grabbed Irvine's hand and dragged him back to the floor for more dancing. I groaned and slammed my forehead against the tabletop.

"Why? Why would you agree to that?" I grumbled. I could almost hear him shrug.

"She wouldn't have given up otherwise," he said smoothly and I lifted my head from the table with a sigh.

"And when exactly did you plan on fulfilling your promise?"

"I hadn't thought that far ahead," he admitted and I rolled my eyes. I seemed to be doing that a lot lately.

"Great," I said sarcastically. I was perfectly content with just sitting around all evening and watching the dancers, not being _with_ the dancers, but Selphie had to somehow ruin my 'uneventful' evening, didn't she. Bloody yellow dressed devil…

Right at that moment Selphie came running over as another song started with the biggest grin on her face that I had ever seen. I raised an eyebrow. She was _just_ here.

"Ok, I can't wait anymore. You guys _have_ to dance to this song!" she exclaimed and pulled me up by the arms then went to do the same thing to Squall then she dragged us both by the arms to the dance floor where couples were dancing to the slow song that was playing. I inwardly groaned. Of course Selphie would choose a slow song for us to dance to. Finally reaching the centre of the floor where her date was waiting for her she practically shoved me into Squall causing me to trip slightly.

Instantly Squall's arms where around me to hold me up as my hands held onto his shoulders for balance. Our faces were so close I could feel his breath on my nose. We stared at each other for a few moments not moving or saying anything and I blushed as I realized out proximity, or lack there of. We both turned to glare at Selphie and Irvine as they laughed at our awkward moment, but they only winked wickedly before waving goodbye and dancing away out of range. Instantly I straightened and cleared my throat uncomfortably. I was so going to hang those two by their own hair.

Nervously, Squall and I took each other in our arms in the traditional stance, his one arm on my waist, mine on his shoulder and our other two clasped together, and we fell into pace with the other dancers as best we could. Neither of us looked at each other choosing to look at the dancers around us instead. Oh yeah, Selphie was so dead when I get to her. It was extremely awkward; add that to the fact I was _really_ nervous to be dancing in front of all these people who were so graceful. I was using all my concentration not to trip and fall into Squall again that I didn't notice when he looked at me.

"Relax. You're making this more difficult than it has to be," he said and I jumped slightly almost throwing us off and looked at him with a blush.

"Sorry," I mumbled and bit my lip trying to force myself to relax, but it was a lot harder than it looked. I laughed awkwardly. "You'd think me being a girl I'd be pro at this with a little more grace than a chicken."

"Dancing isn't for everyone. Trust me, I know," he sighed.

"You're doing a hell of a better job than me. Honestly, if you weren't leading we would have ran into about ten different people and fallen over five times already," I laughed and he even chuckled. That made me grin and relax a little enough for the tension in my shoulders to stop aching.

I saw him look away from me for a moment then turn his eyes back shyly. "I didn't say it earlier, but you look… really nice tonight," he said quietly causing my blush to return, but I tried to hide it with a smile.

"You don't look too bad yourself," I replied and if I didn't know any better I would have thought he blushed when he avoided my gaze. I was finally completely relaxed though I was still definitely uncomfortable only it wasn't due to the people around me and my paranoia that they were criticizing me. As much as it felt wrong to admit, being in Squall's arms was nice and made me feel warm. He was strong, confident, kind and, dare I say it, extremely attractive. I was just surprised that he put up with me this long, no other guy I was ever this close to for a long amount of time stayed very long.

"The color suits you," he continued with a nod finally looking at me again with those storm grey eyes.

"Likewise. No offense, but you look better in your regular clothes. Suits aren't really your thing," I said unsurely, hoping he wouldn't be offended. He grinned slightly and relief flooded his face.

"At least someone sees it that way. Selphie seems to think that _every_ dance should be formal and insists that the guys where tux's. To be honest their not very comfortable," admitted and I laughed slightly. We didn't even notice when the song changed to another slow song and kept dancing while continuing our conversation.

"Well, I'm not a dress up person either. I like a good pair of pants and a nice t-shirt. Dresses and skirts are just too breezy. I feel more comfortable with something between my legs." He raised an eyebrow at me with a slight smirk then I realized what I just said with wide eyes. "I mean as in pants or something, not _that_!" I blushed madly as his smirk only grew into a grin. "I didn't mean it as in _you know what_. I'm not like that. I mean, not that it's not fun and all, but I don't just do it with everybody. Oh my god, I'm such an idiot." I groaned as he only smiled at my rambling and leaned my head against his shoulder in embarrassment only to pull away a second later. "Sorry."

Squall only shook his head and chuckled. "It's alright." He then moved his hand from my waist to use it to push my head back against his shoulder then put it back on my waist and rested his own head against mine as we continued dancing. The gesture was sweet and others who didn't know us very well would have thought we were a couple enjoying a slow romantic dance and it almost seemed like it. I felt my heart flutter as his arms tightened around me and I couldn't help but wonder why he was being so… close all of a sudden. I didn't know him very well, but it was obvious he wasn't the close-contact-with-another-person kind of guy. I hardly ever saw him touch anyone besides smacking them -mostly Zell- over the back of the head. Hell, he hardly _looked_ at anyone. And yet, here _I_ am, almost a complete stranger, wrapped warmly in his arms and dancing romantically to a slow song. I think I died and went to heaven.

The song ended and this time we noticed. As the music faded we pulled away from each other and I smiled slightly at him, which surprisingly he returned, then he took my arm and led me back to the tables where our friends were waiting. As soon as I saw their faces I groaned. The guys had matching mischievous smirks whereas the girls had grins that threatened to split their faces in half. When we reached the table Selphie was clapping her hands excitedly and didn't even bother to control her erratic giggles.

"Oh, you guys are so cute! I asked for one dance and you gave me two!" she exclaimed. Squall and I gave each other a look that clearly said 'did she just say cute?' and she continued with a sigh. "Wrapped in each other's arms just swaying to the music. It's all so romantic!" I swear if she were a chicken her feathers would have been ruffling with joy.

Then what she said finally registered in my mind. Romantic? Me and Squall? I blinked a few times then looked to the man next to me with wide eyes, which he already returned and we quickly let go of each other as if the other's touch burned. A blush crept up my cheeks as I coughed awkwardly into my hand and he looked away. Quistis and Selphie giggled at our reactions and I glared at them daring them to say anything. Apparently Selphie doesn't understand body language; either that or she _really_ has a death wish.

"Oh, come on, you guys know you enjoyed it and would love to do it again, but won't admit it because you're secretly developing little crushes. Oh, it's adorable! It's like their in high school again!" she giggled. I would have been majorly embarrassed had my anger not been peeking. I made to jump on her, but Squall grabbed my arm and gave me a look of warning when I looked at him. I huffed then turned my narrowed gaze back to the brunette in front of me.

"Selphie," I growled dangerously causing the girl to look at me, the smile instantly wiping off her face. "You're lucky Squall's got a hold on me or you'd be acquainted with the floor right about now." She stared at me a moment as if not sure whether or not I was serious.

"You wouldn't," she said, but the quiver underlying her voice gave away her uncertainty.

"Try me."

Instantly she was on her feet and grabbing Irvine's hand and before anyone could say anything else they were shooting off towards the dance floor with a call of, "have fun, love birds!" over her shoulder. I groaned and lowered my eyes to the floor. Oh, she was _so_ dead when I got to her. Squall, releasing my arm walked around me to take a seat in Selphie's empty chair and not wanting to stand any longer in heals I took the one next to him.

"Sorry about that. You know Selphie and the complete hopeless romantic that she is," Quistis chuckled and I rolled my eyes.

"Can't she pick on someone else, like you two?" I asked gesturing to her and Zell and the blonde only shook her head.

"Nope. She's already tried, but it's obvious there's nothing between me and Zell. You, on the other hand, are new eye candy for her ridiculous fantasies. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but you two are going to have to put up with it for a while," she shrugged, but I could tell she didn't feel sorry at all by the smirk on her face.

I groaned. "Great, and how long does this last?"

Quistis only shrugged. "Days, weeks, months; can't say, really. If she sees that 'spark' she'll stick to it longer." She made quotations with her fingers when saying 'spark' to emphasize that her romantic mind thought she could stick two people together like glue.

I sighed. "Awesome. Just what I needed; a crazy brunette trying to set me up with Squall," I grumbled. Next to me I heard Squall snort and considering I couldn't see his face as it was tilted to stare at the table I thought he was offended. Flustered I waved my hands and my eyes widened. "Not that you're not good looking or anything, actually you're pretty hot, but you're my friend and that would be weird… and awkward… and just weird and… Oh my god, I just called you hot. You know what? I'm just going to shut up now." I sighed again and blushed putting my head in my hands in embarrassment. Across from me I could hear Quistis stifle a laugh before she stood and she and Zell went back to the dance floor.

Our table was silent for a few minutes and I refused to look at Squall for fear of us sharing that awkward look again. Yeah, the one where we look at each other and neither of us has anything to say. Eventually I sighed, but still didn't look at him. "I'm sorry. You know you shouldn't listen to me. I'm just an idiot that tends to let my mouth work without thinking. I swear it's like vomit with words instead of food." I winced slightly at my last words. "Ok, that sounded disgusting, what the hell is wrong with me?"

When he didn't answer I slowly raised my head to look at him only to find his shoulders shaking and I quirked an eyebrow when I heard a strangled sound come from him. I narrowed my eyes in confusion and watched him closely for another few moments. "Are you… Are you _laughing_ at me?"

Finally he couldn't hold it in anymore and a laugh escaped him, his head falling back to let it out. I blinked, noticing for the first time just how straight his teeth were, now that I actually got a full view of them. Then it clicked that he was actually _laughing_ at me. Smacking his arm I let out a squeak of indignation. "Jerk! And here I was worrying that you were actually _angry_ at what I said! Ugh, I know who I'm crossing off this year's Christmas card list." He only laughed and after a few moments I joined in not able to stay mad at him. Hell, the guy was laughing, that's got to be an improvement, right?

After our laughter subsided I felt kind of giddy and just wanted to move. Of course, not in a dance way, but more of a walk way. Turning to Squall I raised an eyebrow. "Hey, you want to get out of here and go for a walk? I want to get out of here, it's kind of hot," I said and he readily agreed. Standing, we walked outside and silence enveloped us again, but thankfully it wasn't awkward like earlier. Instead it was just quiet where we enjoyed each others' company and just admired the gardens. Well, I was; I can't really tell what Squall does when he has his head turned away from me.

"So, you like it here?" he suddenly asked surprising me. It was the first time he actually initiated a conversation instead of me saying something stupid that he had to respond to. I turned my head to look at him and found his eyes already on me.

"Yeah, I love it," I said softly, then turned my eyes back to the gardens. "It's a lot better than Lezmet. The school didn't have a big enough budget to decorate so it was all pretty bland." As we rounded a corner we failed to hear the voices on the other side and me, being the ungraceful idiot I was, ran into someone and fell promptly on my butt. I heard a grunt from the person I ran into and was about to apologize when I looked up to find Seifer crossing his arms over his chest and a scowl on his face. Instantly I groaned in annoyance. Of course, _he _would be the one I ran into and the bastard would still be standing.

"Watch where you're walking, new girl," he sneered. I returned his scowl even as Squall knelt beside me and asked if I was alright. Nodding I accepted his helping hand and he hauled me up easily and I proceeded to wipe the few pieces of grass that clung to my skirt.

"I wouldn't have to if jerks like you weren't lurking around corners," I growled finally picking off the last piece of grass and his glare deepened.

"You know, we're still not even for what you did the other day," he said threateningly. "And I hope you're watching your back 'cause it's going to happen when you least expect it."

I snorted. "With you in the same breathing range I'm surprised I'm not dead from the toxins of your stench already." His eyes narrowed even more and I heard a growl rumble low in his throat, but he turned to Squall.

"You should keep a leash on your bitch, Leonhart, or she might grow more backbone than you. Not like that would be hard," he smirked, but it was wiped off quickly as Squall's fist lunged forward and clocked him hard in the nose. Seifer fell back, his head snapping to the side as Squall's glare narrowed more.

"And you wonder why people around here don't like you, Seifer," he growled. My eyes widened as Seifer jumped up and tackled Squall to the ground and I jumped back with a gasp to avoid being taken down as well. But when the two were standing again I attempted to jump between.

"Stop it! What are you guys; three? Seriously," I shouted to get their attention as I stepped between them and placed a hand on each of their chests to stop them from moving. Both were breathing hard and glaring daggers at each other as if to kill. I looked back to Fujin and Raijin who just stood there watching as if it were a T.V show. "Collect your dog and get him cleaned up. Come on, Squall." I roughly pushed Seifer back towards his followers, which he surprisingly didn't resist, and took Squall's arm and led him back to my dorm without another glance to the 'Disciplinary Committee'.

After fiddling with the key for a few seconds I finally got the door open and pulled him inside, pushing him in a chair at the small table at the back of the room. I then went to the bathroom to get the First Aid Kit. "Honestly, why do guys have to fight all the time?" I mumbled to myself as I came back out to the main room. I sighed as I set the supplies on the table then proceeded to wet a cloth with water to wipe away the blood smeared on his face. I dabbed gently at the already drying blood and neither of us spoke until all of it was cleared and all that was left were the cuts. Seifer's rings were pretty sharp.

"Thanks, by the way, for defending me like that. No one ever has," I said softly watching as his eyes that were closed slowly opened to look at me, but he only nodded, wincing when his head ached with pain at the movement. "Hold on, I'll get you some ice." I jumped up from my seat to run to the small kitchen where I put some ice in a bag, wrapped it up with a towel and then gave it to him when I came back.

"Thanks," he mumbled.

"So, why did you do it?" I asked after a few moments of silence as I soaked a piece of gauze in peroxide to clean his cuts. When he didn't answer I paused and looked at him to find he was already looking at me with his storm grey eyes.

He hesitated for a few seconds then shrugged. "I didn't like him saying what he was about you," he admitted, but didn't say any more. I sighed wanting to say something, but stopped myself when he closed his eyes again and leaned his head back with a sigh of his own. So, instead I continued with my ministrations and cleaned his cuts with as much care as I could when it probably burned like hell. If it did, he didn't show it and I admired him for that.

I hope Seifer was having a harder time than Squall. The bastard deserved it.


	7. What's Up With Squall?

After Squall was cleaned up and his headache had gone down it was already too late to head back to the ball, something neither of us minded very much, so we decided to stay in my dorm for a while talking. If you could call awkward silences and short sentences talking. I already knew Squall wasn't the conversation-y type of guy since the beginning, but I was hoping that he would have warmed up to me enough by now to at least have a decent conversation between friends. Maybe sitting in my dorm room wasn't the best place for his comfort zone, but I couldn't have very well taken him to the infirmary with a few cuts and scrapes, that would just be pointless, plus the doctor would ask for details of what happened and we'd have to fill out a report and yadda yadda yadda.

It was during one of those long awkward silences that I realized just how uncomfortable my dress had become. I had already taken off the devil shoes, as I liked to call them, and had thrown them to the other end of the room. Unclipping the choker around my neck I let it drop to the table causing the almost trance-like state Squall was in to break and he looked at me. I smiled sheepishly then attempted to reach behind my back to loosen the strings tying it so tightly around my torso.

Unfortunately I was blessed with horrible flexibility as well as height and soon I found myself spinning in circles and hopping around my small living area cursing like a sailor. It seemed like a ridiculously continuous circle and I don't mean my movements. Whenever I finally grabbed hold of the string it slipped right through my fingers since the awkward angle I was in was similar to road kill on the highway in the middle of summer. Finally I stopped to see Squall staring at me with a raised eyebrow and amused smile. I huffed and folded my arms over my chest defiantly.

"You try taking off a dress that's squeezing your insides into mush and insists on laughing at you behind your back, literally, while keeping its impossibly small strings just out of reach," I grumbled turning in another circle fruitlessly.

Squall only chuckled and stood from his seat to approach me putting his hands on my shoulders to stop my spinning. I stumbled slightly in my dizziness, but his strong hands steadied me easily. "No thanks," he replied in answer to my earlier statement. "I prefer tuxes over dresses no matter how horribly uncomfortable they are." He then proceeded to loosen the strings at the back of my dress and I blushed slightly as his strong hands unintentionally sent shivers down my spine. Even after he was done his hands lingered near my back and my blush deepened.

Pulling away and coughing to clear my thoughts I smiled at him, hoping my make up covered my blush. "Thanks! Whew! I can breathe now. Man, it feels good to breathe. I'm thirsty, are you thirsty? I've got some juice in the kitchen if you want some. Excuse me," I stammered and lowered my head going into the kitchen quickly to avoid his questioning gaze. When out of his sight I breathed a sigh of relief and continued to pour the juice from the fridge into two glasses. After setting down the jug I turned and rested my hands back against the counter squeezing my eyes shut as I got my bearings.

"I _would_ like some, thank you," I heard him say from the doorway causing me to gasp in surprise and open my eyes to find him leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed and a small innocent smile on his lips. His tasty-looking, kissable lips…. No! He's Squall for crying out loud! My friend! Not my fuck buddy! I repeat; _not_ my fuck buddy.

"H-here you go," I said picking up a glass and handing it to him with as much sensibility I had left. He smiled his thanks and nodded before heading back to the sitting room giving me time to gather my wits again. Taking a deep breath and grabbing my own glass I headed out after him with a broad smile. He smiled back, the tension in his shoulders visibly relaxing.

"So, how are your classes going? Is your combat improving?" he suddenly asked taking a sip of his drink. I blinked; startled that he was actually instigating a light conversation.

"Uh… Yeah. I think I'm doing alright. I stay on my teachers' good sides and I think I can actually do some damage in a fight if needed," I replied with a grin, comfortably crossing one leg over the other as I leaned my elbow on the tabletop.

"Really? Do you want to come to the training room with me some time? I could teach you a thing or two that they don't in class," he offered wiping at the water that had accumulated on the side of the glass. I stared at him for a moment, shocked, not knowing if he was actually serious, but when he didn't continue I stumbled over my words.

"Uh, that would be great. Thanks," I said dazedly and he grinned showing me his pearly white, perfectly straight teeth.

"Great. I'll see you tomorrow at breakfast and after your classes we can head to the training room," he added and finished his last gulp of juice before standing and coming to stand next to me. He leaned down toward me taking my chin in his hand gently.

"Thanks for the nice night and your kindness. I didn't deserve it, but thank you," he whispered in my ear slowly then ever so gently placed a soft kiss on my cheek causing me to blush more than I ever had before. He grinned seeing this and let go of me leaning back. "See you tomorrow. Goodnight." With that he left the room, the door clicking quietly behind him.

"Goodnight," I mumbled dazedly. It certainly was a good night. Aside from running into Seifer the night seemed perfectly romantic, but the way Squall acted was confusing. His mood seemed to switch from silent and stone cold to chipper and talkative in a matter of seconds. _Oh well,_ I shrugged. Maybe this new Squall wasn't so bad. I mean, I _did_ get a kiss out of it. A little peck but it was still something. And from Squall, that was a real treat all in itself. Not only was he _Squall_, but stone cold, heart of ice, Squall. There was no affection radiating off him, _ever_ and tonight he proved me wrong.

~.~

So, this morning I woke up nervous. I mean like, _uber_ nervous. Today was the day that Squall said he was going to train with me, if you call majorly getting my ass kicked training. But I was so _nervous_. One; it was Squall and two; we actually had an… intimate moment last night that I'm pretty sure will pop into my head frequently during the day, especially around him which is a bad thing. Why? Because Selphie would surly notice since she seems to think that me and Squall are going to hook up.

Pssht! Yeah right!

He may have given me a kiss on the cheek, but that was out of gratitude or pity or something. You know, he probably knows that I think he's downright gorgeous and is just messing around with my head like it's a game to get something out of me. What exactly? I have no freaking clue. Sex, maybe? Nah, he's too nice for that. I mean, he's _Squall_, the guy that never talks to _anyone_, hardly his own friends. It's almost imposable to get a sentence out of him.

Was he bipolar or something? I mean, one minute he was silent as the grave and broody and the next he was all… flirty and happy. Maybe he had a personality disorder. You know, I've her that some are subtle enough to not be as noticeable, but there are still hints. Ya, maybe he had some mental disorder.

…

Dear god! Listen to me! I'm trying to convince myself that a guy, a very hot guy, is interested in me only because he's a wacko! Wow, my self-esteem is so low that I actually resorted to that. Sure, it's surprising that Squall, the stone cold lion he is, is interested in me, the stupid klutzy awkward new girl. Surprising; not impossible.

Sighing, I finally hauled myself out of bed and continued to get ready for the day. After packing my books into my book-bag I dressed in the standard uniform, scratching at the itchy collar, and did my bathroom routine before heading out the door to breakfast, my heart beating faster than I thought possible. I wonder if Squall was going to act the same way he did last night at breakfast. Doubtful, considering our friends would be present.

Reaching the cafeteria I spotted them easily in our regular spot near the back. As soon as I walked in Selphie noticed me and waved me over excitedly and the others looked up as she did so. I smiled and made my way over through the small crowds and maze of tables, but was shocked to find something different going on at the table today.

The first thing I noticed was Squall. He was sitting close to the group for once, sitting straight, not leaning against the table, and actually including himself in their conversation. The only thing that wasn't different was that his lips held no smile.

The second thing I noticed was that Selphie and Irvine sat next to each other. Yes, I know that's not really _that_ different, but there was something different about the way they were sitting. Irvine had his arm wrapped possessively around Selphie's waist and she leaned into his side with one hand on his lap and her head resting ever so gently on his shoulder. Obviously the two had a bit of a revelation at the ball last night. Thank god, or else Selphie would have noticed mine and Squall's disappearance.

"Good morning, Lee," greeted Quistis as I approached the table and set my bag down next to it.

"Morning," I returned with a smile. Zel, Selphie, Irvine and Squall, surprisingly, said their 'hello's' as well. When I looked at Squall he smiled slightly and nodded his head, but didn't turn back to the others to continue the conversation they were in. Unfortunately, the others noticed this interaction and it started a whole new, apparently more interesting, topic.

"Is that a smile I see, Squall?" cried Zell with a laugh and our attention was suddenly drawn to our friends whose grins were so wide, they threatened to split their faces.

"Yeah, we haven't seen one of those in months. Lee, you've got some serious magic. First he steps into the conversation earlier and now he's smiling," added Selphie with a teasing grin. "Did something happen last night?"

Both Squall and I blushed and I mentally cursed that I didn't have make-up to cover it up this time. We glanced at each other briefly, but quickly looked away awkwardly. The others laughed. Apparently our embarrassment is amusing to them.

"Looks like something did," Quistis said suggestively nudging my arm with her elbow and quirking a brow.

"Nothing happened," I mumbled, my blush deepening.

"Denial," laughed Zell.

"Probably a little hanky panky in the bushes if you know what I mean," said Irvine behind his hand as if it were a secret, but said it loud enough for everyone to hear. They all laughed. "That's probably why they left early _together_ last night."

"Nothing like that happened and we left because we were bored," I said defensively glaring at them. Damn, so they had noticed us leave.

"Then you should have danced," suggested Selphie with an accusing arched brow. I rolled my eyes and out of the corner of my eye I saw Squall do the same.

"As we both mentioned before, we don't like dancing," growled Squall.

"You know, the more you deny everything, the more we think you're lying," said Quistis teasingly.

"Oh, shut up," I mumbled crossing my arms over my chest and pouting like a young child. I then caught a glimpse of the clock on the wall and stood. "Well, I'd _love_ to stay here and chat with you lovely, _adoring_ people, but I have to go to class. Ciao!" I hopped up from the bench waving and grabbing my bag and was about to bolt out of the cafeteria when Squall rose as well.

"Wait. I'll walk you there," he said and came around the table to stand next to me. My mouth fell open slightly in shock and I glanced back at our friends who wore very similar expressions. Squall merely smiled, a very small one, and held out his hand in gesture for me to go ahead.

"Um, you don't have to do that, Squall. I know my way around," I stuttered unsurely, but he only shrugged.

"But I want to. Let's go," he rumbled. Sometimes he sounds more scary than he intends to, and it freaks me out a bit, but still the offer was sweet and I wasn't about to just turn him away twice.

"Oh. Ok," I mumbled. I looked back at my friends once more and they were all leaned in whispering but their eyes glued to us. Boy were we going to hear it later. I hope it wouldn't be too bad, for Squall's sake. I could take teasing, but Squall seemed to take everything seriously and I could only imagine his temper when the others provoked him too much. The thought made me shiver.

As we exited the cafeteria many eyes followed us and whispers were in our wake, but we ignored them. A lot of students had seen the interaction at the table, which wasn't surprising considering Squall and his gang were practically famous, and how Squall had so eagerly jumped up from the table to walk me to class. Great. We weren't just going to hear it from our friends, but from the whole goddamn school. Yippy…

We walked in silence to my class the eyes of everyone we passed on us, teachers and students alike. Finally, I leaned over to Squall and whispered, "Everyone's watching us."

He only shrugged, not even concerned about this fact. "So?" he said not moving his eyes from the path in front of us.

"Doesn't it make you feel uncomfortable?" I mumbled, and then grinned brightly at a blonde that walked passed giving me a dirty look. "Hi, how ya doin'?" She didn't reply only scoffed and stuck her nose in the air and continued walking. I scowled after her.

"Not really," he replied as we came in front of my classroom door. I turned to him to thank him for walking me here when he walked straight into the room. I sighed and followed him already catching the gazes of students watching us. Squall stopped and looked at me with a brow raised as if asking me where I sat.

"Um. At the back," I said pointing to the top back corner of the classroom and he nodded, but didn't take another step. I smiled and nodded to him. "Thanks for the walk."

He nodded back. "No problem. See you at lunch." He smiled slightly at me again before turning and leaving the room with a stiff back like the Commander he was. I shook my head confusedly before turning as well and jogging up the steps to my seat, hearing the whispers of my classmates. When I got to my seat I dropped my bag beside my chair and propped my elbows on the desk burying my head in my hands with a sigh.

A few seats away were a group of girls whispering, clearly only in this school to meet military guys on their fathers' payrolls. One in particular had an annoyingly high voice that really grated my nerves at the moment. Unfortunately that high pitched voice began addressing me.

"Hey, you," she called.

I looked up from my hands to her. She was blonde, surprise surprise, and watching me with an offended look as if I had done something wrong. I raised an eyebrow at her and sighed boredly. "Yes?" I asked.

"You better not be dating Squall Leonheart," she said, obviously attempting to sound threatening and I raised an eyebrow. "He's mine."

I snorted. "Really? I don't see him walking you to class," I chuckled and she gave me a death glare. Wow, if looks could kill… "And no, we're not dating. We're just friends."

The girl huffed and fluffed her hair with her hand adopting a smug look as if she owned the world. "Good," she quipped, "because he's mine and you better not forget that."

I rolled my eyes and turned away back to my computer. Great, I just made another enemy. First Seifer and now what's-her-face-blondie. At least I have friends like Selphie, Quistis and the guys. Hopefully that means they'll protect me when the mob of Squall-fans show up in my dorm and attempt to strangle me in my sleep.

Oh, Balamb was going to be _a lot_ more interesting than I thought I was going to be.


	8. Meet Phyl

Weeks passed and Squall and I were still great friends. Every day we trained together and sometimes when Zell would join us he would teach me some martial arts. Those days were always exhausting because Zell swore that he would get as much into my head as he possibly could in the shortest amount of time. Squall, the jerk, found it amusing every time I fell on my ass and Zell would be right there to help me up only to knock me back again. I loved Zell, I really did, but he was trying to teach me things that I wasn't ready for yet and I always ended up with a bruise on my ass by the end.

Irvine was busy with Selphie most of the time, you know, doing a little 'hanky panky' in the equipment room, but on the occasions that he joined us, he took it upon himself to teach me how to shoot a gun. I honestly didn't know why the guys insisted on teaching me their skills, but my guess was that they wanted someone to know what everything was like so they could see who was the better teacher and who was the better fighter. It was a weird little competition they had, especially Zell and Irvine, but it was friendly. Although the arguments got a little too heated sometimes, Squall was there to calm everybody down.

Even though I hung out with the guys a lot in the training room, my dorm was reserved for girl talk and late night gossip. Selphie and Quistis came to my room regularly to stay up all night talking about boys and the like. They teased me all the time about me and Squall having a 'thing', but I'd retaliate that Selphie and Irvine could easily be heard from the closets and other such hiding places they went to for some 'alone time'. Selphie would blush and switch the conversation to something else. I always had to smile at my victory.

I am also happy to report, dear reader, that there have been very minimal interactions between Seifer and his gang with ours. It seemed like after his and Squall's little scuffle in the gardens that Rinoa had been steering her boyfriend clear of us while I had also been steering Squall clear of them. As much as I thought Squall beating the shit out of Seifer was sexy, I still didn't want him to get hurt and have to watch him brood afterwards. I just got him out of that habit; I don't want it to be for nothing.

In the months that past I have to say that Squall and I have become very close friends. I would like it to be a little more than that, but I'm too much of a chicken shit to make the first move and it seemed like Squall was happy with the relationship the way it was. I didn't want to ruin our friendship that I worked so hard to obtain anyway. If I kissed him now, that would go all down the drain; Squall would be moody again and I'd go back to talking about the weather.

Yeah, life would go back to being boring.

So, as much as I liked Squall, I wasn't going to do anything. I was going to ignore the flutter in my stomach and the light headed feeling I got when he was close to me. Besides, even though I know I could kick _Miss Ganis'_ ass easily in Battle Strategy, I really didn't want to make anymore enemies at this school. Seifer and his gang were enough. Because of them I've already gotten into a few confrontations. I'm pretty sure that if I had anything more than friendship with Squall, Calina would go to Seifer and all hell would break loose.

I might be overreacting to this, but that's seriously how I'd see it going down.

On the upside, school was almost done and I was well on my way to becoming a SEED. A few more months and my Battle Strategy teacher will be taking me to the Northern caves where I'd take my finial test. After that, we'd have a big ball, blegh, no doubt put on by Selphie, and I'd be a part of SEED. I was so excited. Not only was I going to bee in SEED but Squall would be one of my Commanders and he'd get to order me around.

….

Okay, I know what you're thinking and yes, I did mean that in a sexual way. Jokingly, of course. But anyway, truth be told that the idea of Squall telling me what to do was a bit of a turn on. When we trained and he told me what to do with that calm cool voice of his, I couldn't help but melt inside. Call me dirty, but sometimes I daydreamed about him telling me in that tone to touch him somewhere 'fun'. I'd always have to pull myself out of it with a blush every time Squall waved a hand in front of my face and a teasing smile.

"I know I'm probably boring you to death with this, but you could at least _try_ and pay attention," he'd chuckle then continue with the lesson.

Actually, he never bored me to death with anything; I was always enraptured with his voice. That voice that sent shivers down my spine and made my heart feel like it was a flying pig. Maybe I should get him one of those voice changing devices, that way I won't be so distracted with his voice. I bet that if he spoke in an alien voice, I'd pay attention more than I did with his deliciously sultry one.

God, listen to me. I'm starting to sound like an obsessed fan-girl. No! I'm turning into Blondie! Smacking my head repeatedly, I tried to get myself to stop thinking about Squall. A few eyes from in my class looked at me strangely and I didn't notice this until my teacher cleared their throat in annoyance. Hearing this, I stopped my actions and startled, I looked up to find almost everyone staring at me.

Giving an embarrassed laugh I apologized. With an annoyed huff, the teacher returned to the lesson that I hadn't been listening to and as soon as all the eyes were facing the front again, I dropped my forehead to my table with a thud and a groan. Even when he wasn't around, Squall still affected me. The bugger, maybe I should try to be more alluring and it'll mess up his perfect day for once. Yeah, I'll do that later when we're in the training room. Hehe. The Commander didn't know what was coming to him.

I didn't believe one bit that I could be sexy, but maybe, _just maybe_, I could be sexy enough to throw off Squall's perfection. If it distracted him enough for me to get a hit in than it was good enough for me. Today we were focusing on martial arts considering this was usually the day that Zell would join us, but he was off on a mission somewhere, so Squall had decided that he'd spar with me instead. Squall would be even harder than Zell so I knew I had to up my game a little. If that included cheating then so be it.

"Hey, you know class is over, right?" asked a voice beside me causing me to squeak slightly in surprise as I sat up and almost fell out of my chair. A firm yet gentle hand grabbed my arm to prevent my fall and I was startled to find warm brown eyes staring at me. Fylin, my table mate was smiling in amusement, his perfect teeth flashing. He had light hair that was short in the back and longer in the bangs which gradually grew to a darker color. He was a good looking guy, high cheekbones, sparkling eyes and a friendly smile, not to mention a nice lean bod, but he was nothing compared to Squall.

Letting out a soft sigh I laughed at myself. "Yeah, thanks for letting me know, Fyl," I said sincerely as I stood to gather my books. Fylin stood as well and waited for me to get my things before walking with me down the isle of the emptying classroom.

"Anytime, Ainsley. So, what's up? You're usually less distracted than today," he commented as we reached the door.

I shrugged. Truthfully, I didn't know what had gotten into me. Usually, I'd be gawking at him from the corner of my eye, but lately I just didn't feel as attracted to him anymore. "Oh, nothing, just going over some politics stuff in my head. I have a test in a few days," I lied.

The man next to me nodded as we came to a stop outside the door. I was waiting there for Squall to pick me up. We were going to quickly stop by my dorm to drop off my uniform and books then head down to the training room together. I didn't know why Fylin stopped and didn't keep going with his usual 'goodbye', but that was alright with me. He was someone to talk to until Squall got here.

"That's understandable. Politics is a bitch," he laughed and I laughed half heartedly with him. Fylin was a nice guy and not too bad to look at, but my mind was quickly becoming distracted with Squall again when I saw him and his famous fur lined jacket come into view down the hallway.

"Yeah, it is," I agreed monotonously, my eyes glued to the man that waved to me from down the hall. I raised my hand to wave back with a cheeky smile. Fylin saw this and followed my line of sight.

"The Commander is coming to pick you up again? What, are you guys dating or something?" he asked sounding almost jealous. I knew it had to be something else because not once had Fylin ever made a hint of being jealous before.

"Yeah, he's picking me up and _no_ we are not dating. We're just going to do some martial arts in the training room. Hey, Squall," I said, my voice becoming happier when he finally reached us. I grinned at him, but he didn't return the gesture, only looked Fylin over curiously.

"Hey," he mumbled back, his eyes never leaving Fyl who looked slightly put out, but then my table mate turned a charming smile to me.

"Aren't you going to introduce us?" he asked with a small laugh.

As awkward as I believed it would be I couldn't be rude and just ditch Fyl without introducing him to Squall. After all, Fyl was a friend, or at least an acquaintance.

"Right, uh. Squall, this is Fylin, my friend from class. Fyl, meet Commander Leonheart," I said lowly, but loud enough for both men to hear. Fyl smiled widely and held out his hand to Squall. After a moments hesitation Squall took it and shook it firmly.

"I've heard good things, Sir," said Fyl politely.

"I wish I could say the same," replied Squall coolly with no emotion on his face. Fyl's friendly smile fell slightly at the response and I coughed as they released hands.

"Awkward…" I mumbled before plastering an exaggerated smile on my lips. "Well! This was nice. He met you and you met him. Now, that that's over, we can go now. Bye, Fyl!" My voice was a little higher than I intended and I spoke quickly as I took Squall's arm gently and began to tug it in the direction he had come from. The man didn't budge, but the two remained watching each other for a few seconds longer before Squall finally turned and placed a hand on my lower back to get me moving. The touch sent a tingle up my spine and I couldn't help but hold by breath for a few moments.

Squall and I glanced over our shoulders at Fyl as we walked away and I could still see him watching us, his face blank of any emotion. I looked up at Squall questioningly, but he said nothing. "So, what the hell was that all about?" I asked.

His hand didn't leave my back still and I was afraid I'd be mauled by ravenous fan-girls at any moment. "Nothing," he replied calmly.

"Bullshit. I saw the way you guys looked at each other. What's going on?" I pestered. Sighing softly, Squall finally tilted his head to look at me and I raised an expectant eyebrow.

"Fylin Shades, if you haven't heard, is one of Seifer's prodigies, not to mention a notorious playboy," he grumbled after looking away again. We were almost at my dorm now and the people walking past us were thinning out.

I had heard that Fyl was a playboy, but since he didn't directly hit on me, I thought it was just a rumor, but one of Seifer's little puppets? No way. He seemed too nice to be in any standing with that jerk. "If you're not careful, he might turn against you or worse, try to use you in some other way," Squall added as he took his hand from my back as we reached my dorm. I snorted as I pulled my key from my pocket.

"What? You think I'd actually date that guy? Psht! Yeah, right! Sure he's good looking and he seems nice enough, but I've got a lot of fight in me, remember?" I laughed as my door opened and I skipped inside, tossing my books onto my messy bed and pulling off my blazer. Squall stepped inside and closed the door behind him. He had only been in my dorm a few times after the night of the ball and most of the time he just stayed near the door. This time, however, he made his way over to sit at my small table.

I smiled at him then grabbed some clean clothes out of my small dresser by the bed and headed to the bathroom to change. When I came out, I proceeded to tie my hair up in a ponytail like I did every other day that we trained. Squall was silent at the table, his arms crossed and looking at a spot on the floor; the same position he had whenever he was either in deep thought or brooding. With a sigh I walked over and flicked his forehead startling him out of his thoughts.

"No, brooding in this dorm, Mister," I scolded firmly with a wave of my finger as he looked at me in slight shock. I walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge to grab the juice I usually had in there. "Seriously, I thought you were over that." Pouring a glass, I took a gulp before heading back to the table in my small living area with it.

When I sat down across from him and set my glass down on the table he immediately grabbed it and took a long sip. If you could call chugging the rest of if a sip. I watched him until he was done with a satisfied sigh and placed the glass back on the table, his eyes not meeting mine.

"Jesus, Squall. If you wanted some all you had to do was say so," I laughed as I picked up the glass and headed back to the kitchen to grab another one and pour us both some juice. When I turned around to put the jug back in the fridge, he was right there. Gasping, I almost dropped the jug in surprise then laughed and slapped his arm. "You asshole! You almost scared me to death." I pushed passed him to open the fridge and replace the container, but as soon as the door was closed, I felt myself being turned and my back pressed to the appliance.

Squall was in front of me, so close that I could feel his breath on my cheeks making me blush and his hands were on either side of me against the fridge door. My eyes wide, I stared at him as he just stared back. For a moment, I thought he was mad at me, but when I saw no anger in his eyes I couldn't figure out what was wrong.

It was silent then. Neither of us spoke and I felt the awkward moment becoming unbearable. I hate awkward moments; they're just so… awkward. That's why I try avoiding them as much as possible. Whenever Squall and I got a little _too_ close in training, I'd do anything to get out of it. I'd laugh, snort in a very unladylike fashion or, my favorite, make some random comment that made me look like a complete idiot.

But this… This was hard to get out of. Squall practically had me pinned to my own refrigerator and with his arms blocking both ways, I couldn't even squirm out. Biting my lip, I watched Squall. He seemed to be studying me, but not really looking at me. He seemed deep in thought and it seemed like he was forcing himself not to do something. Like what? I had no freaking clue. Maybe he wanted to tell me something, but thought better of it.

"Um, Squall?" I asked finally, my voice unsure. Instantly his stormy blue-grey eyes cleared and snapped to mine almost as if he were shocked out of some reverie. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah…" he replied after a short moment then he let his arms drop to his sides while looking away. Okay… weird…

"Are you sure? You seemed kind of dopey for a second there," I pressed, but Squall ignored it and moved away from me. What was with him? Was he going back to his damn broody self? Oh, hell no he won't!

Glaring at him slightly for a moment I grabbed his arm in both of mine and plastered an excited smile to my lips. I proceeded to march to my door, Squall's arm grasped firmly in my hands, in an exaggerated manner I ignored him when he stumbled slightly. "Onward, ho!" I cried and laughed madly before dragging Squall out my door, the lock clicking behind us, and down the hall. By the time we reached the training room, he was back to his normal self. Or rather, his _new_ normal self. Huzzah for me! Aren't I a great distraction?

* * *

So if anyone has read my profile, I have a FFVII, SephirothOC, story finished and ready to post and a few chapters of a Thundercats story, TygraOC (Anybody remember that show? lol). If anyone's interested in me posting them let me know in a PM or a review. Thankies!


	9. The Kiss

Oh dear lord… After our little ordeal in my dorm where Squall had me pinned to my fridge I wasn't able to think straight. As we trained it seemed like both of us were distracted. Whenever he asked me to demonstrate a tactic he just showed me, it seemed like he stared at me the whole time I did it and when I turned back to him, I'd find him with a small blush and he'd look away. Whereas, every time his back was turned, I couldn't help but stare at his perfectly toned glutes.

His stare burned into me constantly and it made me feel so self-conscious that I screwed up every few minutes. It got to the point where I got so frustrated that I finally threw up my hands and let out a frustrated groan as I promptly flopped down on my ass and pouted like a five-year-old. After I tossed my boxing gloves away from me like they were somehow at fault, I crossed my legs and arms and pouted some more.

After a moment or two, Squall sat down beside me with more grace than I possessed in my thumb and as he stretched one leg out and lifted his other knee to rest his elbow on he leveled me with a curious stare that had a tingle shooting up my spine. I refused to look at him and thought it better to pout even as his leg touched mine as he leaned just the slightest bit closer to me. He nudged my side gently and when I didn't respond I heard him let out a sigh.

"Lee?" he asked softly and I couldn't help but look at him as he ducked his head slightly to look me in the eyes. The bastard was so tall and I was so short that he had to do that even when we were sitting. As soon as our eyes connected he allowed the slightest smile to quirk his lips.

"What?" I grumbled in an attempt to stay angry even though I didn't know what I was really angry about; my inability to stay focused or my seemingly transparent feelings for him.

"There's something wrong. I can tell," he stated, his voice still soft, something I imagined would be difficult because it's normally deep and rough like sandpaper.

"Well obviously. I can't even get _one _move right that you've shown me so far," I huffed angrily though it didn't even sound convincing to myself.

Apparently he noticed too. "That's not it," he stated monotonously.

With a sigh, I uncrossed my arms and immediately buried my head in my hands. "Just forget it, Squall. Maybe we should call it quits early today."

"No, I want to know what's wrong," he replied sternly. The tone of a Commander.

"Why do you care? It's got nothing to do with you." My voice rose slightly with the lie and I lifted my head out of my hands to glare at him, but it was obvious he wouldn't back down with the determined glint I spotted in his eye.

"I care because you're my friend, Lee," he growled back, his jaw tense and his eyes hard, but a moment later they were soft again. "And maybe…-"

Before he could continue, we were interrupted by Seifer and his followers, this time joined by Rinoa and I suppressed a groan of annoyance as I noticed the blonde's eyes immediately settle on me and Squall on the floor. To his right Rinoa eyed us carefully, but didn't look like she was going to speak up unlike her boyfriend.

"Well, isn't this cute," he cooed. "Little Squally and his new whore spending some quality alone time together. Sorry if we interrupted your little make-out session." The sparkle in his eye indicated that he was not at all sorry for interrupting anything.

"Suck it, Sifter," I growled then smirked slightly at my own little nickname for him.

"You'd like that wouldn't you?" he snickered with a grin and wink at Squall who I heard a quiet rumbling of anger from. I was surprised that Seifer would say something like that in front of his girlfriend but after a glance at her, I noticed that she didn't seem to mind. Jesus, what was wrong with her? If I had a boyfriend like Seifer I'd be pissed off at everything he ever did or said.

"Come on, Hunny, let's just leave them alone," said Rinoa as she reached over and gently tugged on Seifer's arm. He looked at her and his eyes softened a little as she gave him a begging look that sickeningly reminded me of a wounded puppy. "Please? Squall can sleep with whoever he wants."

I felt my right eye twitch in annoyance and I finally stood to glare fully at the girl now. I heard Squall stand up as well and quietly try to stop me, but I took a step towards his raven haired ex with leashed furry. "I am _not_ sleeping with him. We are _friends_. Do you not know the meaning of the word or have you surrounded yourself with so many fake ones that you don't know the difference?" I seethed as I got right up in her face. Once again, I heard Squall warning me to stop and even felt him pull at my arm, but I instantly yanked it away.

"You know what? I guess I should thank you," I continued and watched as Rinoa's eyes gradually became larger. "If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have gotten to know Squall for who he really is because you were obviously holding him back. He's a great guy, ten times better than that sorry snot next to you, but you'll never see that because he's so much better off without you and he knows it."

After my little rant the room was silent. Rinoa and I stared each other down as Seifer and Squall looked at me in disbelief. I knew Squall was a big kid, a Commander for hell's sake, and could very well take care of himself, but he shouldn't have to put up with it by himself. My friend's enemies were my enemies and whether they could beat the shit out of dinosaur fiends or not, I would defend them.

Unfortunately, I was too busy staring Rinoa down that I hadn't noticed her hand raise until it was too late. Her right hand connected with my cheek with a loud slap and my head whipped to the side and I was momentarily too stunned to feel the sting and paid more attention to the startled gasps of the others around us. When the tingling pain finally set in, I turned back to Rinoa who wore a satisfied smirk.

Slowly I lifted a hand to my tender cheek which probably looked as red as a tomato by now and raised an eyebrow at her and stretched my jaw slightly. "Ow," I said as I rubbed my cheek.

"Maybe next time you should keep your mouth shu-"

She never got to finish her snide remark because my fist suddenly collided with her nose and she went stumbling backwards. She was so thrown off balance that she fell onto her ass and held her now steadily bleeding nose. Instantly, Seifer was at her side and Squall was behind me his arms wrapped around me with my arms pinned to my sides to stop me from inflicting any more damage, but he didn't have to worry, I was finished.

"Didn't I tell you to keep your bitch on a leash?" Seifer growled at Squall as he sent him a hateful glare and tilted his girlfriend's head back to stop the blood that dripped from her nose from falling onto her dress.

"If I remember correctly, yours was the one that started the fight," replied Squall in a much calmer tone, but I could tell that underneath his cool demeanor, he was just as angry as I was. Without another word to Seifer or his posse, he pulled me out of the training room.

Neither of us said anything as he led me through the halls and I hoped he wasn't bringing me to the infirmary, but when I saw a completely different décor than anything else I had seen in Balamb, I voiced my curiosity. "Squall, where are we going?" I asked.

He didn't answer, but he continued to drag me down halls and up a flight of stairs, my hand held gently in his. When finally we stopped at a plain white door with the number 24 on it, he released my hand and pulled out a set of keys from his pocket. A moment later the door was open and he stepped back to let me in before him.

When I passed the threshold of the doorway, he followed me in and closed the door behind him before switching on a light. Instantly a rather large living room illuminated. A large black sofa sat a few feet away from a simple T.V and a glass-top mahogany coffee table rested in between. Attached to the living room and to the right of the door was a spacious kitchen with laminated floors and an island counter, complete with a dining table fit for six occupants. There was a door on either side of the T.V that I figured probably led to a bathroom and a bedroom.

After my initial surveying of the apartment, it finally hit me where I was. "This is your apartment," I said quietly to myself, but Squall nodded anyway. "Why did you bring me to your apartment?"

"When I got hurt you brought me to your dorm to clean me up, I thought I'd return the favor," he replied and with that moved into the apartment and to the kitchen.

"But it was just a slap, there's no cleaning up to do. Not on my side anyway." Following him to the kitchen I watched as he opened the freezer and pulled out a small bag of ice. Reaching out my hand to accept the ice, I was surprised when he took my hand in his again and pulled me over to the table where he sat me down and proceeded to gently press the ice bag to my cheek. The coolness helped to hold back the blush that had slowly started to rise and I smiled softly at Squall.

"Thanks," I said quietly. "But you didn't have to do this."

"Yes I did," he replied, his eyes trained on the ice bag held to my cheek.

"Why?" I asked.

There was a moment of silence between us as he slowly removed the freezing object from my face and met my curious gaze. He then sighed and tossed the bag onto the table. "Look," he started. "I'm not very good with this whole 'I like you' thing, but I feel like you're only in this mess because of me and I don't want you getting hurt because of it."

I was stunned into silence by his declaration, but decided not to comment on it just in case he meant it as a plutonic 'like', as in friends. "You shouldn't worry about me Squall. I can take care of myself and if I do get hurt in the process of defending my friend's integrity, then I don't care. If I had come out of that confrontation today with a broken arm, I'd _still_ be happy." Squall looked away still looking a bit guilty and I grinned at him. "But only if it was my left arm. If it was my right, I'd be super pissed and useless which would make me even more pissed."

Finally that got something from him. A quiet chuckle rumbled through his chest and escaped his lips as he turned his eyes back to mine. "You are probably the strangest person I've ever met. You know that right?" he asked and although it was rhetorical, I decided to answer it anyway.

Leaning back in my seat, I smirked and sat in a way I thought a gangster would. "Yep, and that's why you love me," I laughed then sat back normally.

"I wouldn't say love quite yet." His serious tone wiped all the laughter from my face and I stared at Squall stupidly. A hitch caught in my throat but I attempted to say something intelligent anyway.

Unfortunately all that I was able to sputter out was a dumb, "huh?"

The corner of Squall's mouth twitched upwards slightly. "I get it; I'm not the ideal guy to date with all my _brooding_." Here he gave me a withering look. "But I like you, Lee, as more than just a friend and I want a chance to see how that could turn out for us."

"Really?" Apparently I was still stupid, more than usual.

"Yeah…" he trailed off and looked away from me again in embarrassment. I wanted to say something reassuring, to tell him that I felt the same way, but I was still so shocked. And my blank stare wasn't helping much. "Um, maybe we should just forget about this."

"No!" My sudden outburst startled him and he turned back to me. "I mean, I don't want to forget," I amended. "Look, Squall, to be completely honest with you, I've liked you almost since the day we met." My blush returned and this time there was no ice bag to keep it away. "I mean, damn! You're good looking, a perfect gentleman and a really _really _nice guy. Sure, you have your issues and an attitude, but who doesn't? Look at me for example, I'm not exactly normal."

At this Squall raised an eyebrow at me and smirked. "You think I'm good looking?"

My blush deepened. "Shut up, you'd have to be blind not to think that," I grumbled and I heard him snicker. "_Anyway_, my point is that I like you… Also as more than a friend, but I don't think right now is the best time to be trying a relationship."

Squall's happy expression fell then and he looked slightly hurt. "Why not?"

"My final test is coming up, and we're already hounded on enough by not only our friends, but also our worst enemies," I rationalized. "If we started dating we'd only prove them all right and make more trouble for us. Our friends would start saying how right they were and Seifer and his groupies would just spread around that we were covering up a fling."

I knew he could see my point, I could see it in his eyes, but I could also tell he didn't want to give up just yet. "Weren't you the one who said they didn't care what others thought?" he accused. Damn, he was right. "What are you afraid of?"

It was my turn to be silent again especially when Squall lifted a hand and ran his cool fingers over my still slightly stinging cheek. I bit my lip softly and closed my eyes for a brief moment before opening them and finding his stormy blue eyes boring into mine. "I don't know…" I confessed, my voice no more than a whisper. "But the thought of dating you just…"

"Repulses you?" he tried blandly.

"No," I said sternly. "It excites me. I get so happy about it that it scares me. I don't know, I guess I'm just scared that I won't be exactly what you were hoping for. That I'd disappoint you…"

"You could never do that to me. You've gone way passed what I expected from you already. The first day you joined us at that lunch table I thought you'd be just another face I'd see in the hallways, but now you're my closest friend and make me have feelings I never thought I'd feel for another woman." As he said this he moved his hand from my cheek to my chin and began to pull me closer, his voice dropping to a whisper. "Give this a chance. Give_ us_ a chance."

I was so distracted by the burning fire I could see in his stormy eyes that I hadn't realized what he was about to do until it was too late. His lips gently connected with mine sending such a shocking jolt down my spine than I gasped. He deepened the kiss by gently probing at my lips with his tongue, asking for entrance and when I gave it to him he sent my mind into oblivion.

My eyes fell closed in bliss and I gave myself completely over to him without hesitation. I felt week and used all of my strength to stay sitting up in my chair even as his hand cupped the back of my head to hold me still. He continued to kiss me with such passion that I couldn't keep track of how long we stayed locked like that until he suddenly pulled away to breath. Only then did I realize that I too had been running out of oxygen and also took in a much needed gulp of air.

"Wow," I breathed between soft gasps and opened my eyes to stare at him in amazement. I found him smiling at me with the biggest grin I had ever seen him possess and blushed at the fact that it was me kissing him that had made him so happy. His chest rose and fell just has rapidly as my own. "Damn, if you kissed me like that every time we had an argument, you'd win ninety-nine percent of the time."

"Oh, really?" he chuckled, his eyebrow raising slightly as he smirked and began closing in on me again.

I managed a quick 'yep' before his lips crashed onto mine again, but this kiss was more heated and rougher than the last one and when we finally parted again, I grinned at him. "I shouldn't have told you that."

He chuckled again. "No, you shouldn't have," he agreed. "Does this mean we're dating?"

I blushed again. "Um, I guess so," I replied unsurely. "Either that or I'm your fuck-buddy."

"No, I could never disrespect you like that," he said then placed a gentle kiss on my forehead. "But for your sake and until you're ready, we'll keep this to ourselves, ok?"

I let out a soft sight and smiled at him gratefully. "You're already turning out to be a fantastic boyfriend," I laughed. "Why Rinoa ever let you go is a mystery to me, but hell, I'm not complaining."

"It's a good thing she did," he grinned. "And I am definitely happy about it."

"Me too."

And then he kissed me again and I was sent back into heaven.


End file.
